Black Friday Glitter Gradient with Zoya Wishes

I guess by the time you guys read this, you'll probably have been out shopping for hours already, but here's some Black Friday nail art! I actually hate Black Friday and have only gone out once (and never again), but I won't ever turn up a chance for some pretty nails. Being in huge crowds of people and waiting in long lines just seems like torture to me!

For this look, I used two coats of Zoya Willa for my base and sponged Zoya Imogen near the cuticles towards the tips. I applied a coat of top coat to finish it and that's it! Super easy, but super pretty!

How do you feel about Black Friday, love it or hate it? Have any Black Friday horror stories?

Zoya Wishes Winter/Holiday 2014 Collection Swatches & Review

Hello hello! I have the Zoya holiday collection to share with you guys today and they are so stunning! I love holiday collections (as long as they don't contain too many reds!) and this collection of shades is so unique. Let's get started, shall we?

Prim is a velvety ice blue polish. I honestly didn't think I would like this one based on the swatches that I saw, but it turned out to be much less brushstrokey in person and I actually love it! I'm wearing two coats.

Haven is a stunning deep royal purple shimmer. This color is gorgeous but I had a little bit of an issue with the application. It was just a smidge streaky, but it looked good in two coats.

Willa is a perfect shiny black creme. Great coverage in two coats.

Imogen is a black PixieDust packed with silver glitter and larger holographic hexes. I'm wearing two coats of the PixieDusts alone in the first photos and with top coat in the second photos.

Nori is a vivid icy sapphire blue PixieDust. This is two coats.

Thea is a deep royal purple with holographic hexes and silver glitter. I'm wearing two coats.

I'm so glad that the PixieDusts for winter are completely opaque since the summer ones were so sheer, but my problem with these now is that they don't dry matte enough! For this reason, I much prefer them with a coat of top coat to make them shiny and glittery. Overall though, this collection is so fabulous! Any of these shades would be perfect on your nails for a holiday party!

The products in this post were provided for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

OPI Halloween 2014 Peanuts Collection Swatches & Review

Happy Halloween everybody! I sadly don't have any nail art to share with you this year since I've been trying to get caught up on my swatching, but I do have OPI's Halloween collection to share. This year, OPI looked to the Peanuts for their Halloween inspiration and put together a four-shade collection in ode to the cartoon.

Who Are You Calling Bossy?!? is your standard black polish. Good coverage and formula; this is two coats. If you don't already have a staple black in your collection, this is a good option.

Good Grief! is a bright sunshine yellow, a perfect match to Charlie Brown's iconic shirt. This had a good formula for yellow and covered well in two coats.

Where's My Blanket??? is a glitter topper with black, yellow, and pale orange glitter. I layered two coats on my index and middle nails.

To Be or Not To Beagle is a glitter topper with black and multicolored glitter. I layered two coats here on my ring and pinkie nails.

These limited edition Halloween shades are available wherever OPI is sold and are also available in a mini set that includes nail decals. I was never a huge Peanuts fan, but I can see these being hugely popular! Did you pick them up as a collector's item or did you pass on them?

The products in this post were provided for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

KBShimmer Early Summer 2014 Collection Swatches/Review

It pains me to have taken so long to do this review! You guys know that KBShimmer is one of my absolute favorite brands and they put out TWO awesome summer collections this year. This is the first one from the beginning of the summer.

Low and Be Bold is an absolutely striking ultramarine blue. It's a little bit sheer, but I got good coverage with three thin coats.

Right As Reign is a deep inky indigo purple shade. I used three thin coats here too.

Let's Not Coral is a coral creme that leans to the pink side of coral. This one was perfect in two coats.

She Twerks Out is a gorgeous aqua shade with green, aqua, and purple glitter and a matte textured finish. These textures are new to KBShimmer and they turned out great! This is two coats with no top coat.

Partners in Lime is a vivid lime green textured polish with green, aqua, and yellow glitter. This is two coats with no top coat.

Too Pop to Handle has a violet base filled with purple. pink, and blue glitter. I used two coats here and no top coat so the finish would remain textured.

Goldie Rocks is a beautiful golden holographic polish. I used three coats here.

Run! It's the Coppers! is such a gorgeous shade! This copper polish has a brilliant holographic effect. This is three thin coats.

Big Tan on Campus is a unique shade in my holographic collection. This light taupe-y brown is a fantastic color for fall! This is three coats.

In Bare Form is a fabulous nude holo! This is one of my favorites out of this group. It's so perfect to wear to work with just a little bit of extra oomph! This is three coats.

PT Young Thing is a strong silver holographic shade. I used three coats here like the rest of the holos, but I think two would have been sufficient.

Stark Raven Mad is a pitch black holo. This one only need two coats.

Once again, KBShimmer has amazed me with the creativity and execution of this collection. There is such a good variety here! My two personal favorites are In Bare Form and Run! It's the Coppers!. Which ones catch your eye? You can purchase any of these shades on KBShimmer's website.

The products in this post were provided for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

KBShimmer Spring 2014 Collection: The Creams Swatches/Review

Guysssssssssss!! KBShimmer has done creams! I hope you are as excited about this as I am! I've never been disappointed in a KBShimmer polish yet and these are just absolutely awesome. I'll get on with the photos though and stop blabbing. Formula notes will be at the end.

My Life's Porpoise is a lovely medium gray. It leans a little too blue in this photo; it's more of a neutral gray in person.

Chick Me Out is a bright, cheerful yellow. This polish is a testament to KBShimmer's polish-making abilities: it has none of the formula issues that yellow polishes typically have.

A Touch of Glass is my absolute favorite, a dreamy pale aqua reminiscent of sea glass. I wore this to work for four days with only one minor chip on one nail (my manicures usually last less than a day there). 

Honeydew List is a pale spring green. Not really my shade, but a great polish nonetheless.

Pansy-Monium is an amazing royal purple. This is a fabulous, rich color.

Sky Jinks is a saturated deep sky blue. Think middle of the summer, big fluffy white clouds type of sky blue.

Eclipse is exactly what it looks like, the perfect black polish.

Life Rose On is a raspberry shade of pink with a blue undertone. It's very wearable and flattering.

Now, the formula for all of these polishes is fantastic. The yellow goes on slightly streaky on the first coat, but evens out perfectly for the second. Each of these swatches shows two coats of polish and as you can see, they reach opacity beautifully. I'm only hoping that there are plenty more to come!! These polishes are available now on the KBShimmer website. As always, make sure you like their Facebook page to keep updated with all of their incredible new collections! Stop back here on Wednesday morning to see the glitter part of the Spring 2014 collection!

The products in this post were provided for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

China Glaze Surprise Collection Swatches/Review

In April 2014, China Glaze is releasing this special six-piece limited edition collection called Surprise! The six polishes are all glitter toppers with different color combinations but the same general size/shape of glitter.

Don't Be a Flake contains matte black and turquoise and metallic pink glitter. I layered it here over ChG Metro Pollen-tin.

Shine-nanigans is a mix of metallic pink and purple glitter and matte lime glitter. I'm wearing it over ChG At Vase Value.

Glimmer More has matte orange and yellow glitter with metallic pink glitter. It's layered here over ChG What a Pansy.

Glitter Up contains matte turquoise and peach glitters and metallic purple glitter. I'm wearing it over ChG Peonies & Park Ave.

I'm a Go Glitter consists of matte lime and turquoise glitter and metallic pink glitter. I layered it over ChG Spring In My Step. This combination is really spring-y!

Create a Spark has pink, purple, and black glitters. It's worn here over ChG Grass is Lime Greener.

Now on to the formula. I hate to say it, but these are just not very good. I had to do a lot of scraping along the sides of the bottles to get what you see here. When you dip the brush in the bottle, the majority of what you get is the clear base with just a sprinkling of glitter. What ends up happening then is that you have thick layers of the clear base on your nails that needs lots of extra time to dry. I love how these glitter toppers look, but I just don't have enough patience for them.

What are your thoughts?

The products in this post were provided for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

KBShimmer Valentine's Day Trio Swatches/Review

Okay, so this is a little late. However, these polishes are so gorgeous that it would be a shame to only wear them around Valentine's Day AND they are still available for purchase, so you can stock up for next year! ;) KBShimmer created this trio inspired by the holiday of love and I absolutely love these polishes!

Falling for Hue is a mix of red, magenta, and pink glitter in a white base. It gave me perfect coverage in two coats!

Whole Lava Lovin' is a cherry/raspberry red linear holographic polish. This one changed shades on me a bit; sometimes it appears to be a true red and sometimes it leans more pink. Perfect formula, opaque in two coats.

U Rock My Heart is a glitter topper with a whole mess of different black and pink glitters. It has hearts, stars, large hexes, small hexes, teeny tiny hexes, some circles, and I believe there are some shards in there also. I have one coat layered here over KBShimmer Chick Me Out.

♥

Which one is your favorite? I think Whole Lava Lovin' is mine... it's such a unique color for a holographic polish! If you are interested, you can purchase these shades on KBShimmer's website. Each bottle retails for $8.75.

The products in this post was provided for my honest review. 

TDOCNAS: Day 3: Simple Snowman Nail Art

Good morning everyone! Today I have some seriously simple nail art for you inspired by snowmen! To create this look, start with a plain white base. Then, use a liquid eyeliner pen to create the hat, eyes, and mouth of the snowmen on each nail. Finally, take a small nail art brush and an orange polish and paint the noses on each nail. See, I told you it was easy!

I'll see you on Friday with some more nail art! :D

TDOCNAS: Day 2: Buffalo Plaid Nail Art

Even though my house has been decorated for two weeks now, I'm so excited that it's finally an "acceptable" time to be in the holiday spirit! I've fallen in love with buffalo plaid this season and seriously can't get enough! My pups both have matching buffalo plaid collars and I scored a buffalo plaid scarf for $10 at Forever 21 a few weeks ago! The lovely red and black plaid reminds me of winter and the holidays, so I thought it would be fitting for this series.

I started out with a base of two coats of China Glaze With Love, a lovely warm red. I used MASH plate Mash-50 and a black stamping polish to stamp the plaid pattern over each nail. I think I've finally gotten the hang of stamping straight!

Do you love plaid?? I can't get enough!

KBShimmer Blogger Collection 2013 Review/Swatches & GIVEAWAY!!

You guys have no idea how excited I am to be sharing these polishes with you right now! KBShimmer hand-picked eleven nail bloggers and gave us the opportunity to create a unique nail polish for part of their winter collection. I think you all know how much I love KBShimmer, but let me just reiterate for you if you don't... four words: best indie brand ever. So should we get to the polish or what??

Christmas Now comes from Crystal at Crystal's Crazy Combos and is literally Christmas in a bottle. This green jelly polish contains gold stars and multi-colored hex and round glitter. This is three coats.

Green Hex and Glam is from Kayla at Nails by Kayla Shavonne and is a deep forest green jelly polish with holographic glitter. This is three coats.

I'd Rather Be With Blue was thought up by Lisa at Cosmetic Sanctuary. This light blue matte polish has iridescent shimmer in it that's meant to mimic glistening snow. This is two easy, perfect coats.

Snow Much Fun comes from Victoria at The Manicurator and (I know you guys are going to be excited about this...) it has snowflake glitter!! There are also holographic and white glitters mixed in this light blue base. This is three coats. The snowflakes were surprisingly easy to get out of the bottle too!

Merry Pinkmas is from Cristina at Let Them Have Polish (my first nail blog crush!). This light pink base has a mix of red, green, and neon glitter in it. This is three coats.

Plum Tuckered Out was thought up by Sheila at Pointless Café and is a stunning shade of plum with blue shimmer. This is three coats.

Toast-ess With the Mostest comes from Valesha at Peachy Polish and is a champagne-inspired glitter topper consisting of gold, pink, and silver hex and round glitters in a clear base. This is one coat over Plum Tuckered Out. Absolutely stunning!

I Only Have Ice For You is the brainchild of Sarah at Chalkboard Nails. This beautiful glitter topper is made up of shimmery white flakes and holo glitter. This polish will look great over any color, but I layered one coat here over China Glaze Red Satin. This is so delicate and would look fabulous over any of the shades from Zoya's Feel collection of winter neutrals.

Strung Out is from Jackie at Candy Coated Tips and is a black jelly polish with silver, gold, red, green, and blue round glitter. If you hadn't guessed it, this one was inspired by a string of lights! This is two coats over one coat of plain black polish. 

Sand In My Stocking was thought up by Jen at The PolishAholic and is a fabulous departure from the typical holiday glitter! This gold polish has orange, aqua, and holographic star glitter. This is one coat over I'd Rather Be With Blue.

And finally, Will Yule Marry Me? is my shade! I went in-depth with my inspiration behind this beauty in a separate blog post, but the down and dirty is that it was inspired by my Christmas Eve engagement last year! The navy blue base represents the "eve" and the round and holographic glitters represent my super sparkly engagement ring! This is two coats.

Every single one of these polishes has a perfect formula and I had no issues to report with any of them. Each of these photos shows the polishes with one coat of KBShimmer's top coat, Clearly on Top (except I'd Rather Be With Blue).  This collection is available for purchase today at www.kbshimmer.com!

Now for the best part! How would you like to win this entire collection? I have one full set to give away, plus one bottle of Will Yule Marry Me? as well! There will be two winners total. You can enter in the Rafflecopter widget below for your chance to win! Please read the terms and conditions in the widget. Good luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The products in this post were provided for my honest review.