OPI San Francisco Collection Review/Swatches

Hey everyone! This is another collection that I'm way behind on posting, but I've been getting a lot done around here so I'm finally ready to share it. The OPI San Francisco collection should still be out and available in stores now and you should definitely be able to find it online if you are looking!

Alcatraz... Rocks is one of the three liquid sand polishes released with this collection. It's a gorgeous navy blue with golden glitter mixed throughout. This is two coats.

Wharf! Wharf! Wharf! is a royal blue texture. There's no way this one could stand up to Alcatraz... Rocks, but I do love the color blue that it is. This is two coats.

It's All San Andreas's Fault is an earthy taupe shade that dries textured, but still with a slightly glossy finish. This is two coats.

Peace & Love & OPI is a great multi-chrome polish that shifts between teal, purple, and green. This is three coats.

A-Piers to Be Tan is a caramel-tan color and had a great formula. This was perfect in two coats. I love shades like this for Thanksgiving!

Lost On Lombard is one of the many reds that this collection didn't need. This garnet shade was good in two coats.

Dining al Frisco is an absolutely stunning sky blue shimmer that had great coverage in two coats. What a beauty!

Incognito in Sausalito is a blackened navy blue shade. This is two coats.

Haven't the Foggiest is a fantastic shade of pewter. I love metallic silver shades but often find them hard to wear, so this is the perfect alternative! This is two coats.

I Knead Sour-Dough is a reddish brown with red shimmer throughout. This is two coats.

Keeping Suzi at Bay is a rich, saturated royal blue that was perfect in two coats.

Embarca-Dare Ya! is a lovely hot pink metallic shade. This is two coats.

Muir Muir on the Wall is a very pretty duochrome that shifts mostly from purple to green. This is two coats, but I think this polish would work very well layered over a black base.

First Date at the Golden Gate is a bright red-orange shade. This is two coats.

In the Cable Car-Pool Lane is a beautiful berry shade, but unfortunately is slightly sheer. This is two coats, but with the darker shade of this polish, I would have expected it to be completely opaque at two coats and it's not.

There are definitely some winners in this collection, but there are also clearly some rather boring and repetitive shades as well. I hate to say it, but I'm underwhelmed. I miss the days when OPI had exciting, innovative collections and weren't half full of red shades. Hoping for a change in 2014!

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

Ozotic 912 (Scatter) Review/Swatches

Hey everyone! This is sadly the last installment of my nine week piCture pOlish/Ozotic series, but it's a pretty one so don't be sad!

912 (Scatter) is a beautiful metallic purple with a slight duochrome finish and fine silver glitter that sits on top of the polish. This is two easy coats.

The duochrome effect is hard to capture but you can see it in the upper corner of the bottle in this photo.

Ozotic and piCture pOlish are sister companies, so you can order Ozotic shades from the piCture pOlish website or you can find a more local distributor on their network page. You can also keep updated with them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.

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

KBShimmer Fall 2013 Collection Review/Swatches

Wakey wakey everyone!! I have the brand spankin' new KBShimmer Fall 2013 collection to share with you this morning! It has been torture keeping these a secret from you but I can finally share today. Let's get right to it!

You Autumn Know is a white-based polish with orange, magenta, and yellow hex and micro bar glitter. This is three coats.

Teal Another Tail is the shining star of this collection: a gorgeous teal green with an almost duo-chrome pink shimmer. This is three thin coats.

Turbulence is a gray polish with a satin matte finish. There is also some silver, blue, and fuchsia shimmer in this one. This is two coats.

This is two coats of Turbulence with one coat of Clearly on Top topcoat. I love how the topcoat brings out the shimmer!

Every Nook & Cranberry is a satin matte polish in a gorgeous cranberry red/pink shade with pink and gold shimmer. This is two coats.

This is two coats of Every Nook & Cranberry with one coat of Clearly on Top. Again, love how the shimmer comes out with topcoat!

You Go Ghoul! is a mix of orange and purple glitter in a black base, perfect for Halloween! This is two coats over a black base.

Excuse Me, I Blurpled is a blue-ish purple shade with blue, purple, and copper glitter. This is two coats.

Vicious Circles is a red jelly with silver circle glitter in two different sizes, as well as silver hex and micro bar glitters. This is three thin coats.

These polishes will be available for purchase on September 1st and retail for $8.75 each from KBShimmer's website. I always get so excited to see what Christy has cooked up for each season and never disappoints me! My picks for this collection are Teal Another Tail, You Autumn Know, and Every Nook & Cranberry. Which ones are you loving?

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

Lilacquer The Fifth Element Collection

Hey everybody! Today I have a really cool collection by Lilacquer inspired by the movie The Fifth Element. I tried something a little different for these swatches (two finger swatches and a square crop) but didn't end up loving it so I'll probably stick with my normal swatching. Let's get started, shall we?

Up first is The Diva Plavalaguna, a peacock blue metallic shade.

Leeloo Multipass is a creamy orangesicle shade with some faint light pink shimmer.

Super Green is a stunning lime green metallic.

Zorg Industries is a unique gray metallic with a slight blue/green duochrome flash. The word "stormy" comes to mind with this one.

This is Roo-bee Rhod, a copper-y amber metallic with a slight gold shift.

To Protect Love is my favorite of all these polishes, a soft peachy pink with tons of golden shimmer goodness. LOVE it!

Supreme Being is a light blue than The Diva Plavalaguna, but still gorgeous! I'd describe this as more of an aquamarine blue.

Lastly, here is Fhloston Paradise, a beautiful hot pink metallic. I had a little bit of an issue with this one dragging and that's why my middle nail looks funky. Just let it dry for a couple minutes between coats and you'll be fine!

I used three coats for every swatch above. There were no big formula issues, but just make sure you let your coats dry for a few minutes before applying more polish to prevent dragging. Lilacquer polishes can be purchased on Etsy and you can like the Lilacquer Facebook page to keep updated with new collections and information!

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

Sonnetarium Demonized

Here is another lovely Sonnetarium polish for you guys to add to your wish list! This is Sonnetarium Demonized, a mix of color-shifting glitter that changes between teal, green, blue, purple, and gold.

It was hard to capture the gold shift, but you can see it here on the left sides of my index and middle finger nails. This is two coats of Demonized over a black creme.

This is a bottle comparison of the now-discontinued Ozotic Elytra 528 and Demonized. As you can see, my bottle of 528 has had a lot of love recently (mostly for jewlery-making), so I'm really thrilled that there is a great dupe out there (for a much lower price!).

You can visit Sonnetarium on Etsy to sign up for e-mail notifications when the shop opens up again!

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

OPI Just Spotted the Lizard

Hello and happy Monday everyone! ;) Today I have one of the colors from OPI's new "The Amazing Spiderman" collection for you called Just Spotted the Lizard. I'm not typically a fan of duochrome polishes, but this one is really stunning! Just Spotted the Lizard is a metallic duochrome shade that shifts between gold and a yellow-y green. It's not quite as shifty on the nail as you can see in the bottle, but I still think it's full of awesome.

I used three coats for these photos and they were effortless! I noticed brush strokes when I was applying each coat, but they went away for the most part as each coat dried. I'm really loving how reflective this polish is. It's not a color I would typically wear, but the finish makes it something I want to grab for when I'm feeling flashy :P

 

 *The product in this post was provided by the company for an honest review.*

SoFlaJo The Conjuror

I had the opportunity this weekend to try a polish from a really cool new brand called SoFlaJo. SoFlaJo's first collection, called The Year of the Dragon, consists of 8 color-changing, glittery topcoats made to layer over darker colors. The Conjuror is one of those gorgeous topcoats and it shifts mostly between teal and purple. 

The formula of The Conjuror was really excellent.  I used two coats over two coats of Dr.'s Remedy NOBLE Navy. It covered really well and consistently in one coat, but I thought two would add to the sparkle. Here you can see some of the lavender/lilac/light purple shift:

These last two photos are my favorite of the bunch. I love how they mainly show the teal shift, but you can also see the purple shift on the edges of my nails. I'm really, really impressed with this topcoat and I would be willing to bet that it will look awesome over ANY dark shade, not just blue.

If you are interested in making a purchase, you can view and order all of the available SoFlaJo polishes right here on her website! Go check 'em out! 

*The product(s) in this post were sent to me for an honest review.*

Girly Bits Street Magic

I'm not sure if anything I have to say could really do this one justice, so let's just get right to the photos! This is one coat of Girly Bits Street Magic over two coats of Julep Trina, a deep purple shimmer. As you can see by this first photo, Street Magic generally shifts between yellow and green.

Here's a bit more yellow/gold than the first photo shows:

And when the light hits it just right, you get this gorgeous rusty orange/red shade of shimmer to appear! I wore this mani for four days and even on the fourth day, I was still catching myself moving my hands around and staring at the awesome color shifts.

Have I convinced you to go buy some Girly Bits polishes yet?! I hope so! You can use the links below to check out what shades Pam is offering at the moment and to learn how to order.

You can view polishes that are available to order here.

You can order Girly Bits polishes here.

Hard Candy Beetle

This polish is sooo cool! I love polishes with neat effects and the duo chrome effect in Beetle is awesome! These photos really do Beetle more justice than my description could, so I'm not going to say much, I'm just going to get right to the pictures! I used three coats of polish for all of these. This is the way Beetle typically looks...

... but every once in a while, you get an awesome shift to green. I've noticed that these shifts mostly happen in lower lighting situations, also.

There's some gold mixed in there too. Here's a bit of a close-up. I have a feeling this would look pretty good layered over black. That might eliminate the need for three coats too.

And here's your obligatory macro shot... because I know how much you guys love them! (Or just how much I do, whatever). :) So basically, run to Walmart and pick this beauty up!