A England Briarwood from Burne-Jones Dream collection - Review and swatches

*PR sample

Hello lovelies,

I have been waiting for A England Briarwood for some time as the production took longer than the rest of the Burne-Jones Dream collection. I've finally swatched it and it's so pretty!

Briarwood - red-based brown with scattered holographic particles. The brown is rich and warm and the holo particles are very subtle but become more prominent in the direct sunlight. It's a gorgeous shade with perfect formula! One coat was fully opaque but I did applied two coats to hide my slight ridges in the nails...but otherwise one coat is enough. It applied very easily and dried fast, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this little gem!

If you'd like to get your paws on the new A England collection, it is available in e-shops all over the world, HERE is the full list.

*PR sample

Nicole by OPI Gumdrops Collection - Review and swatches

*PR sample

Hello lovelies,

the texture polish trend is not dying out, on the contrary. Right now I have here another texture polish collection, this time from Nicole by OPI called Gumdrops.

From the Press release: “These shades are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, Nicole by OPI Co-Founder & Artistic Director.  “By combining groundbreaking texture technology with some of the hottest trends including matte and shimmer finishes, Nicole by OPI has created a new line of lacquers for cutting-edge manicures.  Worn without top coat, Gumdrops lacquers dry to a textured matte finish to give nails a “sugar” coated appearance.





My Cherry Amour - dark cherry textured base with multi-coloured glitter. The polish is absolutely gorgeous in the bottle and while it's glossy but once it dries into a matte texture it is not so much. Don't get me wrong I still like it but the glossy version is just amazing. Two coats were fully opaque.

And here is a version with topcoat. It beautifully sparkles with rainbow coloured glitter in the sun and the colour looks much richer.

A-Nise Treat - charcoal black textured base with silver glitter. It's chic rock chick look and I like it! It applied easily and two coats were fully opaque.

Blue-Berry Sweet On You - lavender blue textured base with silver glitter. This polish has a slight foil-like shine to it and it doesn't feel as gritty as the other ones. The formula was slightly thicker but manageable and two coats were fully opaque.
 

Candy Is Dandy - medium pink textured base with holographic glitter and silver particles. It's a pretty pink and I like the bigger holo glitters, they stand out nicely and shine in the sun. It is a bit sheerer so I've had to apply two thick coats.

Cinna-Man Of My Dreams - bronze brown base with silver, blue and bronze particles. It's an interesting colour combination. It is not completely brown, it is leaning towards red plus the blue particles thrown into mix make it really unusual. I'm wearing two coats.

I Lilac Gumdrops - lilac base with big silver flecks. The formula of this polish was slightly thicker yet manageable. I needed two coats for full coverage.

Overall, this collection offers some nice textured polishes with extra sparkle. They all applied easily and were opaque in two (sometimes thicker) coats. The drying time is longer than with normal nail polishes, the texture needs to dry and harden properly otherwise it can be ruined easily. But once it's completely dry it can last without chipping quite long. The removal is somewhat difficult as with glitter nail polishes. 

My absolute favourite is My Cherry Amour, especially the topcoated version!

This limited edition collection will be available beginning May 2013 for $7.99 each at retailers including select Walmart (May 2013), CVS (June 2013), Rite Aid, Kmart, Kroger, Ulta, H-E-B, and Duane Reade locations (August 2013), In Canada, these shades will be available for $10.99 each at Shoppers Drug Mart, Walmart Canada (July 2013), Jean Coutu, Loblaw, and London Drug (August 2013).

*PR sample

Shimmer Polish Swatch Frenzy Part 3

 *These were provided for a review

Hello lovelies,

I've got here more of the gorgeous Shimmer polishes! I've you've missed previous reviews, check them out here.

Alessandra - red, orange, green, turquoise and silver glitter in a lightly tinted red jelly. This one is truly great for layering but could be worn alone but you would probably need three coats. I've applied Alessandra over white and as you can see, the tinted base changed the colour to light pink. it applied very easily and there's plenty of glitter in the bottle. One coat provided very good amount of glitter. It dried fast and slightly gritty.

Carol - blue, copper, gold, silver holo and black in clear base. I have applied one coat of Carol over OPI Hands Off My Kielbasa!. The glitter pay-off is again very good and I didn't have to position the bigger glitters. It applied well and dried fast, it has good formula.

Melissa - gold, blue, red glitter in a clear base. Here I have applied one coat of Melissa over Clinique Grape Ice and A England Camelot. The change of the base colour nicely shows off the different glitter colours. The formula is the same as the other shades - easy to apply, fast drying and with plenty of glitter. Melissa would be easy to wear alone as well as the glitter is dense.

Rochelle - red, gold and holo glitter in a clear base. This polish reminds me tanned skin and holiday :) I've applied one coat over OPI My Paprika Is Hotter Than Yours! The glitter is dense and applies well. iit dries quite smooth but I always use topcoat.

Jasmine - turquoise, blue and gold glitter in a clear base. Gorgeous mixture of colours, it looks great layered over so many colours! Here I've layered it over a white nail polish (OPI Alpine Snow). It applied very easily and dried fast.

They are gorgeous, right? What I love the most about the Shimmer polishes is that they are perfect not only for layering over any colour but also for glitter gradients. I have more coming so stay tuned ;)

Check out all the Shimmer Polishes at Shimmer Polish Etsy store.

 *These were provided for a review

OPI Oz The Great and Powerful collection - Review and swatches

 *These were provided for a review

Hello lovelies,

I  know, I know...I'm a bit late with these but I'm totally swamped with work and life generally!  I hope you'll still enjoy my swatches though :)





This collection consists of six limited edition polishes and one new liquid Sand and is inspired by Disney’s Oz The Great and Powerful.

From Press Release: “OPI is very excited to take this fantastical journey with Disney,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Inspired by the magic of Oz The Great and Powerful, this SoftShades collection captures the whimsy seen in the film, from glittery shades packed with white, gold and silvery iridescent confetti – Lights of Emerald City, When Monkeys Fly! and Which is Witch? – to soft neutrals in white, beige and pink – Don’t Burst My Bubble, Glints of Glinda and I Theodora You.



Don’t Burst My Bubble - pale milky pink jelly. This is a very sheer soft shade suitable for French manicure or jelly sandwich manicures. I have applied three thick coats to get reasonable coverage. It applied very easily and dried fast and glossy so no complaints here. I really liked how the result looked but three thick coats are just too much hassle for me.

I Theodora You - cotton candy pink jelly. Again, this is another sheer shade that I needed to build up to get some coverage. I'm wearing three thick coats and they dried rather slowly because of the thick layer. If applied in thin layer, the polish dries fast. The colour is quite flattering and very pretty, I liked it on me.

Glints Of Glinda - peachy beige jelly. This is the last of the three soft jelly shades and also my least favourite. The shade doesn't look nice at all on my nails. I again needed three thicker coats for the coverage you see in the pictures and it just wasn't enough. My nail line is still visible which I hate. The formula was good as with the other two shades - applied well and dried fast in thin coats.

Lights Of Emerald City - white square glitter mixed with opalescent square glitter in a clear base. I've applied one coat over I Theodora You. I got a good amount of glitter on the brush and it applied nicely. I've had to spend a bit of time on the glitter placement so it's nice and relatively even. 

When Monkeys Fly! - big gold glitter mixed with smaller holo glitter, all in a clear base. Oh yes, yes, this is the infamous polish with so called 'taco glitter'. To my surprise the glitter in my bottle looks tacoed  in the bottle but once I've applied it to the nail it was actually pretty ok, maybe it just went on the nail the tacoed side down. I've applied one coat over Glints Of Glinda and had to play with the glitter placement. I've also applied one coat of Seche Vite topcoat. Before you accuse me of not being honest, please check the last picture of When Monkeys Fly! to see that my glitter really wasn't horribly tacoed like some of the other ones. If you do however got curled glitter, you can get it exchanged as OPI has listened to its customers' complaints. 

Which Is Witch? - different sizes of holographic glitter in a clear base. Since there's no emerald nail polish in the collection I supplied one ;) I've applied one coat of Which Is Witch? over Color Club Wild Cactus and no topcoat. You can see that it dried slightly gritty so next time I'll need a topcoat. The bottle is packed with glitter so you'll get plenty on the brush. The removal was difficult as with any other glitter.

What Wizardry Is This? - greenish brown Liquid Sand texture polish. I'm not over the moon from this shade, it's not my type of colour. The formula is good, it applied well and I needed two coats for full coverage. This Liquid Sand does not contain glitter particles as the first Mariah Carey ones did. It dries average to slow and the removal is somewhat similar to glitter. 

Overall, this collection did not do it for me. I'm not a huge fan of sheer jellies and green-ish brown colours. I think I'll be much looking forward to the Fall collection :)

Just to sum it up a bit, Oz The Great and Powerful collection has three different finishes (jelly, glitter and texture) so technically you might find at least one polish you like. Formulas are quite good but I think that the whole uproar about the taco glitter in When Monkeys Fly which I've read all about before I even got the bottle into my hands somewhat influenced me into not liking this collection very much despite my bottle being ok.

If you do like any of these polishes then you can buy them at any of your usual stores and e-shops.

*These were provided for a review