Sonnetarium Fresh Collection Swatches/Review

Hey everybody! I have swatches of the Fresh collection from one of my very favorite indie brands, Sonnetarium. All of these shades are inspired by fresh, springy foods! My fav!

Raspberry Sorbet is a juicy, mostly opaque deep berry with copper and gold glitter. I used three coats here and you can still see a little bit of my tips, but it wasn't noticeable except under the very bright light of my lamp. The same goes for the other shades too where you can see my tips.

Strawberry Smoothie is a yummy, creamy pink with red and white glitter and super tiny silver glitter. I used three coats here.

Banana Pudding is a creamy pale yellow with multiple sizes of lemon yellow glitter. You can layer this over a white base for opacity, but I used three coats here and it looks great.

Cucumber Salad is a great, unique shade of green with dark green and white glitter and subtle shimmer. Three coats here.

Blueberry Yogurt has a creamy purple base with dark blue glitter and shimmer. These larger glitters reflect in a way that makes them look like the curl, but they lay flat on the nail. I used three coats here.

The Fresh collection will be available starting on February 15th at www.sonnetarium.net. Sonnetarium polishes come in two sizes: 9mL for $6 and 15mL for $8.50. Are any of these calling your name?

Products provided for review

China Glaze Avant Garden Collection Swatches/Review

Hello everyone and happy Friday! I'm so happy for it to be the weekend and to catch up on my swatching for the blog. Today I have the Avant Garden collection from China Glaze for Spring 2013 for you guys. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Keep Calm, Paint On is an amazing minty green shimmer. The formula on this one was a little thick, but I was able to get it opaque in two even coats.

Dandy Lyin' Around is a gorgeous, shimmery white. I needed three coats here for opacity and evenness. I just love this one.

Pink-ie Promise is a light cool-toned pink with very subtle shimmer. This one had a pretty thick formula as well; two coats was good but you need to be careful of dragging here.

Life is Rosy is a medium-toned mauve pink. This one was a little thick as well, but worked out nicely with two coats.

Tart-y for the Party is a beautiful pastel lilac shade that was great in two coats.

Budding Romance is a murky, swamp green. This is one of those ugly-but-fashionable colors, but I must say that I'm not a huge fan. The formula was pretty watery and it seemed like it bled and stained when I tried to remove it. This is two coats.

Fade Into Hue is a dusty periwinkle creme that was good in two coats.

Sunday Funday is a bright, cheerful sky blue. The one had a great formula and could have been a one-coater, but I used two out of habit.

Fancy Pants is a blue-leaning purple with pink shimmer that is just gorgeous. The shimmer is pretty subtle in this one, but I like that.

Mimosas Before Manis is a gorgeous light coral with subtle silver shimmer. This one was a little patchy, but two coats were all I needed.

Snap My Dragon is a shimmery red that leans a little bit fuchsia. This one had a great formula, needed two coats for opacity.

Passion for Petals is a shade of very pink-leaning red. I'm very happy with the way it looks on the nail, as it seemed too red for my taste in the bottle. This is two coats.

The Avant Garden collection will be available in stores starting in March, but I've heard that it's already available on some online retailers. China Glaze polishes retail for $7 on average. Which ones will you be picking up from this collection?

Products provided for review

GlitterDaze Birthday Cupcake Swatch/Review

Hey guys! Today I have a special, limited edition first birthday celebration polish from GlitterDaze. It will be sold for one month, starting today (2/7-3/7). This polish is called Birthday Cupcake and I used three coats for the swatch below. The formula was good and I love that you can wear it like I did here for a jelly look or you could layer it over a white base for an opaque look.

Birthday Cupcake can be purchased from www.GlitterDazeNP.com. Full size bottles retail for $11, while mini bottles retail for $6. GlitterDaze also has an awesome program where you can earn rewards points on each purchase when you create an account.

Product provided for review

Essie Winter 2012 Colletion Swatches/Review

Good morning everyone! I have some swatches from Essie's most recent winter collection. There are some really gorgeous colors in this collection that can easily transition from winter into all the other seasons. The formula on each of these polishes was fantastic and I used two coats with top coat for each swatch.

She's Pampered is a bright scarlet shade with a creamy jelly finish.

Where's My Chauffeur? is an amazing turquoise shade and my favorite of this collection.

Snap Happy has a creamy jelly finish like She's Pampered, but is a reddish orange shade.

Leading Lady is a stunning deep red base packed with red glitter. The depth in this one is just gorgeous.

Beyond Cozy is one of my favorites of this group as well. It's a very pale gold glitter that is totally opaque in two coats.

There is one more polish in this collection, called Butler Please and it is a bright, cheery cobalt blue. Overall, I think this collection is fantastic for the holiday season, but is also equally well-suited for the rest of the year. I can tell you for sure that I will be wearing Where's My Chauffeur? often and I'm even throwing around the idea of wearing Beyond Cozy for my engagement party! I'm not sure if these polishes are still out in stores, but they should be pretty easy to find online. Essie polishes retail for $8 a bottle and can be found in salons and drugstores across the US.

Products provided for review

bareMinerals Remix Collection Swatches/Review

Hey guys! Happy Monday! I have some awesome new stuff from bareMinerals to show you all today. All of these products are from their Remix collection for Spring 2013. The eye shadow quads and loose powders come in limited edition "aqua sheen" packaging that is absolutely gorgeous.

The Natural High blush is a beautiful peach/pink shade with a nice subtle amount of shimmer.

The Next Big Thing quad consists of a four warm, beautiful eye shadows.

The Wild Thing quad is a mix of four cool-toned blues and greens.

The Flawless Definition mascara comes in two shades, Black and Aqua Blast. There is also a black Round the Clock waterproof eye liner in this collection not pictured, color is called Midnight.

On the far left here is a heavy swatch of The Natural High blush. Secret Radiance All-Over Face Color is swatched in the center and blended out on the far right. I used my finger for these, so using a fluffy brush would blend it out even further.

How amazing are these shadows? This is one quick swipe over primer using the sponge applicator that comes in the quads. The Wild Thing shadows are the four on the left, clockwise from the top left are Elitist (taupe shimmer), Sensational (sea foam shimmer), Icon (chartreuse sparkle) and Controversy (midnight blue shimmer). The Next Big Thing shadows are on the right, clockwise from the top right are Rising Star (yellow gold shimmer), Smash Hit (coral matte), Ensemble (plum matte), and Hoopla (golden copper). On the far right is the Midnight liner. This stuff rocks. I used it on my waterline and it stayed and stayed and stayed. I haven't found another liner that can stay this long.

I used all four shades in the Wild Thing quad for this look. Sensational is all over the lid, Icon is in the inner lid, Elitist on the center of the lid, and Controversy on the outside corner and as lower liner. They are shown over primer and they applied great. These are a lot more opaque than I expected them to be, especially Sensational and Icon.

I used the Flawless Definition mascara in Black here and the Round the Clock liner in Midnight on my lower waterline. I have a sample size of this mascara that I absolutely love, so I'm thrilled to have a full size version in my collection now. I love how it enhances my lashes but doesn't look fake and unnatural.

And here is the Flawless Definition mascara in Aqua Blast. It's not as colorful as I expected it to be, which is great actually. I was afraid that this would be way out of my comfort zone, but I think I could definitely feel comfortable wearing it with some simple shadow.

Here's a close up of the Secret Radiance All-Over Face Color in it's container. I used this on my face and with a light application, it gives you a really pretty glow.

The Bronzing Mineral Veil is definitely more suited for my skin in summer. It's a very light wash of color for sure, but I do prefer my translucent Mineral Veil for now, until I get a bit of a tan at least.

The bareMinerals Remix Collection is available now on the bareMinerals website. My top picks here are definitely The Wild Thing eye shadow quad, the Flawless Definition mascara in Black, and the Round the Clock eye liner in Midnight. But I'm curious, would you guys wear the Aqua Blast mascara?

Products provided for review

New for 2013: Nicole by OPI Swatches/Review

Hola amigos! Today I have some swatches of four new shades that Nicole by OPI is releasing for 2013. The first color I have to show you is called Please Red-cycle and is a juicy tomato red creme with a slight orange-y tinge. I needed two coats.

Still Into Pink is a super bright, barbie pink. It dried matte; I'm not sure if this is the intended finish or not, but I really like it! This is two coats left to dry by itself.

 And this is two coats of Still Into Pink with one coat of topcoat.

Plum to Your Senses is a deep, shimmery plum purple. I used two coats here as well.

Totally in the Dark is a very pretty black polish with silver shimmer. This is a great one to wear if you want to wear black polish but don't want it to look quite so harsh. Two coats for opacity.

From Nicole by OPI: "Nicole by OPI Nail Lacquers and Nail Treatments contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. These will be available in stores beginning January 2013 for $7.99 each at retailers including select Walmart, Target, CVS, Rite Aid, Kmart, Kroger, ULTA, H-E-B, Meijer and Duane Reade locations."

Products provided for review

OPI Mariah Carey Collection Swatches/Review

Hey everyone! I have the OPI Mariah Carey collection here today for your enjoyment, including the much anticipated Liquid Sand polishes! Let's jump right in, shall we?

A Butterfly Moment was a polish that I was sure wouldn't work for me but I ended up loving. I never wear colors like this, but maybe it's the engagement ring that's making me lean towards softer, more feminine shades? Anyway, this is a gorgeous pink/peach with golden shimmer that was absolutely perfect in two coats of polish.

Pink Yet Lavender is a blingy rose pink glitter topper with smaller holographic silver glitter. This is two coats over A Butterfly Moment.

Anti-Bleak is a fantastic reddish purple creme. It has such an amazing formula and was perfectly opaque in two coats.

Sprung is a coppery metallic shimmer that was a bit sheer on application. I need three coats for this opacity, but it's totally worth it. This is an awesome shade.

Get Your Number is the first of the Liquid Sand polishes that I tried and I actually really liked it. This finish of these polishes is definitely unique and probably won't be for everyone. It's kind of like a fine grit sand paper; it's not going to hurt you if you rub it but it definitely isn't smooth. They cover nicely though in two coats.

Can't Let Go is a blueish purple shade that also needed two coats for opacity. There are some larger hex glitters mixed in with this one.

Stay the Night is a black textured matte base with magenta glitter that stays sparkly even though the polish is matte. This was more sheer than the others and probably could benefit from being layered over plain black polish. This is two coats of it alone.

The Impossible is a pinkish red jelly that doesn't seem to dry as matte as the others. It also has star glitter in the mix which makes it really interesting and unique. However, I definitely recommend letting it sit upside for a little while before using it to have an easier time getting the stars out.

The Mariah Carey Collection is available now at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer.

Products provided for review