Nail Candy Nail Art Pen Swatch/Review

Good morning all! I've got a review of some neat nail art pens for you guys today. These polishes from Nail Candy have a regular brush applicator and and a pen tip as well. I received the "Love Letter" set to test out and I have to say that they are really cool!

Here's a photo of the pen tip applicator. I think the polishes work best when you use the pen; the brushes are pretty wide and mop-like. I really like how the pen gives you a puffy paint look.

These dual-ended pens are sold on www.nailcandypen.com and retail for $10/each.

Products provided for review

Milani Color Statement 2013 Lipsticks: Reds & Oranges Swatches/Review

Hola! This morning I have swatches of some awesome new lipsticks from Milani to show you guys! Milani recently revamped the packaging for their Color Statement lipsticks and they now come packaged in beautiful gold tubes with a clear piece at the bottom that shows the color of the lipstick. Today I have the red and orange shades to share with you. All of these lippies have great pigmentation and smell like watermelon in the tube! The scent doesn't stay on the lip, but I love it!

Sweet Nectar is a bright orange creamy shade. I thought orange would be too crazy for me, but I actually kind of like this one.

Orange-Gina is a metallic warm orange with a "pearl" finish.

High Voltage is a seriously bright red with a "vinyl" finish. It is so shiny!

Red Label is a pretty even-toned red to my eye. Nice and saturated.

Cherry Crave is a warm metallic red shade. I generally prefer cream shades over shades with shimmer, but this one is very pretty and flattering.

Best Red is my favorite of the set and the first one that I wore. This is the most matte shade out of all of them (I actually gently patted a tissue over my lips to take away a bit more of the shine when I wore this). It matches perfectly with the True Red lip liner.

Ruby Valentine is the last and darkest of the shades. This one has a vinyl finish and is very shiny! However, you can see that it doesn't match too well with the True Red lip liner.

Here are swatches of all the shades on my arm. From left to right on the top: Sweet Nectar, High Voltage, Cherry Crave, and Ruby Valentine. From left to right on the bottom: Orange-Gina, Red Label, Best Red, True Red lip liner, Nude lip liner.

These lipsticks retail for $5.49, which is incredible for how nice they are. You can view and order them on Milani's website, or find them in your local drugstores. Do you rock red lips?

Products provided for review

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