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Top Three: O.P.I. Spotlight on Glitter Collection

O.P.I. Desperately Seeking Sequins (left), I Reached My Gold (back), and Rose of Light (front)
O.P.I. recently re-released some of their favourite glitters in a collection called 'Spotlight on Glitter' - we paired our favourite three with some of the Quo by ORLY Spring 2014 shades to show them off to you! We picked out a silver, gold, and rose gold  - the three new staple metallics, in our opinion.


First up is Desperately Seeking Sequins, a silver holographic glitter with tiny bar glitter, tiny holographic glitter, and some small hex glitters. We love anything holographic, so this is naturally right up our alley. Index and middle fingers have two coats, while the ring and pinky fingers have only one. This has great coverage and the formulation is perfect! This polish is definitely one of our recommendations if this is your thing.

O.P.I Desperately Seeking Sequins over Quo by ORLY Coral Contour

Next up is our least favourite of the three, I Reached My Gold, with large gold hex glitters and smaller silver holographic glitters of two sizes. This polish would be great, except that the hexes do curl a bit, which can make topcoat a difficulty. As you may be able to see on our middle finger, there was a bit of drag of the base polish - although it probably wasn't fully dry. The base on this polish is a little thicker, and could become gloopy if you work with the bottle open for an extended amount of time. There is one coat on all the nails with the exception of the middle nail, which has two.


O.P.I. I Reached My Gold over Quo by ORLY Sweet Blush

Finally, we have another of our favourites (who isn't obsessed with rose gold?) - Rose of Light. Our swatch shows one coat on the index, middle, and pinky fingers, and two on the accent nail (or ring finger). We love this. The small holographic squares and rose gold glitters make this a beautiful topper for almost any polish - for example, we don't love this base on it's own... but with Rose of Light as a top coat it totally works. A recommendation for any rose gold, glitter, or holographic lovers!

O.P.I. Rose of Light over Quo by ORLY Harmony

Overall, we were surprisingly satisfied by this rebrand of O.P.I's favourite glitters - let us know if you're loving these too and if you've tried any we would love to hear your thoughts!


Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review and consideration. All opinions are our own.

Swatched: Revlon Parfumerie Spring 2014 Collection

We are super excited to share with you the Spring 2014 Parfumerie releases from Revlon! This line is scented, so each polish has a distinct smell (as opposed to the regular polish-y smell) when worn without a topcoat... and they also last! We got our hands on a few of the Fall releases, but we are definitely more excited about these as the mix of fresh and floral scents is right up our alley. All swatches are two coats with no topcoat.

First up is Ginger Melon, a classic bright pink creme with an amazing fruity scent. We're terrible at describing scents, but found that all of these fit their name's pretty well - so we suggest you imagine or go test them out for yourselves! This polish is a pretty classic colour in any collection, but if you're looking for a fun, scented alternative - this is your best bet!

Revlon Parfumerie Ginger Melon

Next up is Apricot Nectar, a bright punchy coral. This polish is both jelly and creamy (a hybrid, if you will) and looks great in two coats. We love this, and it actually is a pretty unique colour, almost a neon peachy coral.


Revlon Parfumerie Apricot Nectar

Next up is Lavender Soap, a shimmery lilac. We don't love the application of this, and we also don't really love a soapy scent. This was a bit patchy (as you can see...) but did reach almost opacity in two coats. Not our favourite, but theres always one in any collection that just doesn't do it for you.


Revlon Parfumerie Lavender Soap

Next up is Lime Basil, and while we didn't expect to love this colour - we actually all really liked it! This is a green creme polish that applies well, and didn't stain at all (our swatch looks patchy on the outside edge of the ring finger, but its a reflection!).  This is a unique colour in our collection, and will definitely get used in some nail art in the future - a definite recommendation if you're looking for a unique but fresh spring green.


Revlon Parfumerie Lime Basil

Orange Blossom is a bright orange creme-jelly hybrid that is glossy and applies super smooth! This is two coats and we have to say that we are pretty impressed. This fills a large gap in our collection and we are loving it. Definitely a recommendation - this shade is like a juicy orange for your nails. Who wouldn't want that?


Revlon Parfumerie Orange Blossom

Next up is Pink Pineapple - this is another polish with a spot on scent! This is a great colour (reminds us of Butter London's Teddy Girl, but slightly more jelly) and it is actually a great formula somewhere between a cream and a jelly. We love this polish colour, and would wear it all summer long - an instatan shade!


Revlon Parfumerie Pink Pineapple

Next up is Sunlit Grass, a bright bold yellow creme that represents a colour that is often overlooked by polish makers, in our opinion. This really brightened up our skin tone, and we would definitely wear it. The scent is not super grassy, and smells pleasant (to us!) - this applied nicely and had good coverage and opacity for such a bright colour in only two coats!


Revlon Parfumerie Sunlit Grass

We literally saved the best for last. The scent of Tropical Rain is actually tropical rain. It's indescribable, but so amazing. You definitely need this colour - application was a breeze (a tropical one). And the scent is super amazing. If you only buy one polish from this collection, go buy this.

Revlon Parfumerie Tropical Rain
Overall, we absolutely love this collection. Our only grievance is that the lid is a bit difficult to hold... so be wary that it may slip through your fingers and keep a tight grip. Other than that, a great release from Revlon. Let us know if you are picking any of these up - and if you already have, let us know how you like them!

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review and consideration. All opinions are our own.

Swatched: Essie Wedding (Bridal) Collection 2014

As bridal season comes upon us, and Spring is finally in full bloom - we have some swatches of the essie Bridal collection! We are not brides, but pastels are super in for Spring, and we definitely recommend picking some of these up! The application of this collection as a whole is pretty impressive, as some pastels can definitely streak easily in application. All swatches are two coats without topcoat.

First up is Got Engaged! - a rosy pink with subtle shimmer. This is definitely wedding-appropriate and we love that its a creamy pastel without being super harsh against the skin. If you already have a polish like this in your collection, you probably don't need it - but this actually turned out to be quite a unique colour when we looked for dupes in our collection!

Essie Got Engaged! (Wedding Collection Spring 2014)

Next up is Love Every Minute, our favourite of this collection! This is bright without being offensive, and has a consistency somewhere between a jelly and a creme, but reaches opacity nicely in two coats. We would definitely recommend this polish, and also found it super easy to apply!

Essie Love Every Minute (Wedding Collection Spring 2014)

Next, a blue - what Essie does best (in our opinion!) - this is Meet the Parents, a muted cornflower blue. This would be the perfect 'something blue'. We love this polish, and will get tons of wear out of it in the spring months. This is definitely a recommended buy, especially if you have room for some fresh blues!

Essie Meet the Parents (Wedding Collection Spring 2014)

This final polish was, sadly, a bit of a disappointment in our eyes. This is supposed to be a shimmery, sheer white - but it misses the mark for us. She Said Yes is a bit streaky on application, probably because it is slightly too thick from the bottle. We actually used three coats here, and as you can see it is pretty difficult to notice any hint of shimmer. This would probably pair well as a subtle white under a french mani - but other than that, we struggle to find a use for this.

Essie She Said Yes (Wedding Collection Spring 2014)
What do you think of this release from Essie, and will you be picking up any of these shades?

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review and consideration. All opinions are our own.

Swatched: Rainbow Honey Favourites!

As Rainbow Honey super fans - we were super excited to be sent a few minis of Rainbow Honey's most popular shades to share with you! If you have read some of our other posts, you may know we are die hard glitter lovers (who isn't?) and that Rainbow Honey is at the top of the glitter game in our opinion. We swatched five polishes chosen by Rainbow Honey, and are ready to share our thoughts!

First up is Be Mine, a sheer-ish pink with gold shimmer bordering on glitter. This swatch is two coats, no top coat. We aren't super huge fans of shimmery shades, but we have seen a few of these pink shimmers, and if you already have a favourite in your collection - this may not be a necessary buy.


Next up is Changeling - swatched over Revlon's Balsam Fir - which is a clear based glitter bomb full of small black glitter, midsize blue and green squares, larger green squares and large black circles. This is a unique glitter, and although not quite up our alley - the formula is on par with our highest expectations.


This next polish leans between a shimmer and a glitter shade - this is Persephone. This shade is a pinky-red full of pink and gold glitter. This would look perfect with any LBD and works year round unlike many other pink/red shimmers which can look holiday party appropriate only. This is definitely one of our favourites too!



Next up, we have Pepillion - this is a clear based glitter with our absolute. favourite. things. Butterfly glitter makes us go crazy, we can't get enough. The five year old girls in our hearts just want to wear this polish all day, every day. These glitters can be hard to place just right (see upside-down butterfly, pointer finger!) - but it is worth it! A must buy.


Finally, we have Sweet Talk, or alternatively (as we like to call is) Candy Crush in a bottle. This is the perfect candy-like nail polish. We love this glitter mostly because it builds to opaque in three thin coats - and ends up looking super fun! We actually do love this one, and definitely will be wearing it through Spring (when it finally arrives...).


Let us know which of these polishes is your favourite in the comments!

Disclaimer: Some of the products mentioned in this post may have been provided to us by the company/PR in exchange for our honest opinion and/or review.


Swatched: Lancôme Vernis in Love Rose Bonheur, Rose Plumenti and Aquamarine

We have heard a lot about the Lancôme Vernis in Love range, and it is favourited by @noemihk on Instagram, a lovely lady we casually stalk for upcoming polish swatches. We received a few polishes to test out for ourselves - and we are absolutely blown away. The three that we tried have awesome formulation, and we will definitely be customers in the future. We would not hesitate to recommend all three of these shades to anyone - the brush is perfection, and the polishes have the perfect amount of glide and absolutely no streaks.

First up, we have to go with our favourite colour... aqua! This is Aquamarine and we are ready for this beachy bright for Summer - one day of Spring sun and we're already on the next season. This swatch is two coats. If you're consistently searching for a new shade of aqua, this polish is for you!






Next up is Rose Plumenti, a shimmery pink. We aren't huge shimmer polish lovers, however this is pretty subtle. You really do have to angle your nails to catch the shimmer in the light. The lighting in our photo makes this polish look a bit streaky, however it really does apply perfectly and looks uniform on the nail.


Finally, our new go-to neon pink, an amazing shade we didn't expect from Lancôme - Rose Bonheur. We are totally obsessed with this polish and its translation in photos is really spot on. This colour is super bright and we are in. love. Totally recommend this polish to anyone, a great addition to any collection.


Overall, we are in love with what we've seen of this polish line, aptly titled Vernis in Love. We will definitely need to add a few more of these shades to our collection! Looking forward to using these in nail art, especially Rose Bonheur. Have you tried any polishes from Lancôme - what did you think?

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products used in this post may have been sent to us by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review.

Estée Lauder Essentials: Two Polishes Every Girl Must Have in Her Collection

Estée Lauder is a cosmetics company founded in 1946 which now acts as an umbrella brand empire housing many other well-known brands such as MAC, Smashbox, and Bobbi Brown. We were super excited to receive two of their classic shades to review - Ballerina Pink and Pure Red. Every woman's nail polish collection needs both of these shades, and we are super excited to share them with you! The Estée Lauder bottle is gorgeous and could definitely be a display item on your vanity. On to the swatches...

First up is Ballerina Pink, which is a sheer baby pink jelly - perfect for a french manicure or demure, clean polish look. This swatch is three coats, a departure from our usual two, just so we could see how opaque it could get. We are pretty impressed with the coverage, and this polish was a dream to work with! Streak free application, and a beautiful shade make this polish a go-to for us!


Next up is Pure Red - an accurate name. This red is super bright and juicy looking, and we totally love it. This swatch is two coats, and the application is also amazing. Let us know if you have tried any Estée Lauder polishes and been impressed with the application as well! If you need a go-to red, this is your polish! This is the definition of a classic polish colour.


Overall, we were totally impressed with these shades and definitely hope to try out some more Estée Lauder polishes in the future - these are a definite recommend for anyone looking to splurge on a classic shade!

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products used in this post may have been provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest consideration and review.

Swatched: Nicole by OPI Rougles Collection

If you follow us on Instagram, you may have had a sneak peek at this collection! The Nicole by O.P.I. Rougles (think Ruffles chips) collection should be rolling in to stores now! This collection mixes pastel and texture perfectly, and the shades are reminiscent of a tweedy pastel blazer - we love it. The swatches are two coats with no top coat - we had no problem with opacity or application with any of these polishes! We hate when a polish looks great in the bottle but applies like a mess, so we're happy to say that these apply similar to any other textured polish. As long as you use relatively thin layers and let your previous layer dry for a minute between coats, you shouldn't have any problems.

First up is I'm Stucco on You - this is a pastel purple with blue and a few orange speckles floating around. We absolutely love this colour because it is so unique. We tend to hoard blues, but this purple is definitely one of the stars of this collection.
Nicole by O.P.I. I'm Stucco on You

Next is Rock the Look, a pastel-y pink with a hint of brightness and brighter pink and orange speckles. This colour isn't as standout as the rest for us, but if you love pink texture... this is for you!

Nicole by O.P.I. Rock the Look
On What Grounds? is definitely a polish after our hearts. We are typically mint-obsessed and On What Grounds? has us tempted to do a Monster's Inc. nail art (Sully, anyone?). This is a pastel turquoise blue with some slightly deeper blue speckles. This is another must-have from this collection!
Nicole by O.P.I. On What Grounds?
Finally, Sand in My Shoe is a pastel yellow with pink and orange speckles. This screams baby chick to us, but since we're approaching Easter it totally works! This would be great for a chicken nail art. If your collection lacks yellows (ours can always use another yellow or green shade!), this is definitely a good addition!
Nicole by O.P.I. Sand in My Shoe

What do you think of this collection, and will you be picking any shades up?


Swatched: Essie Hide and Go Chic Spring Collection 2014

Today, as I type this in a snow squall, we have swatches of the new spring collection from Essie - Hide and Go Chic. This collection features 6 creamy shades with a focus on pastel blues and pinks. We actually didn't hate a single polish in this collection, but we are particularly enamoured with a few. So, here we go!

First up is Fashion Playground, a pastel green described accurately by Essie as 'pistachio'. This has the tiniest bit of shimmer, but if you're anti-shimmer it shouldn't bother you like past Essie shimmers have with larger silver glitter pieces. This swatch is two coats, and as you can see this polish has great opacity!


Next up is the headline polish of the collection, Hide and Go Chic. For some reason, we find this blue reminiscent of a greek vacation. This is a creme shade, and this swatch is two coats. Although this colour is unique in our collection, we love how original Fashion Playground is comparably. However, if you're missing a medium blue in your collection and feel like you need to fill that void, this is a great option.


This baby pink beauty is Romper Room, and it is literally the perfect pastel pink. We have a butter London pastel pink which was previously our go to - and it has been replaced. The formula on this is literally impeccable and we would recommend this to anyone, even if you already have a pastel pink in your collection. This will definitely get lots of wear this spring!

 

Next up is a nude marketed as 'semi-sheer' by Essie - Spin the Bottle. In three coats (in the swatch below), you get to opacity. Even with two coats however, it still has pretty good coverage for those who want to keep their nail lines private. We thought this worked well with our skin tone, but also think it would work well with a darker skin tone (however, lighter may be a no-go).


Next up is the bright of the collection - Style Hunter. This is a super bright 'crimson' (Essie's words) and the description of 'laser sharp' seems to be right on. This is definitely a statement polish, but we can see it working with spring florals really well! This is two coats, and application was flawless.


Lastly we have Truth or Flare, a 'vintage blue denim' - while we agree this polish has a vintage look to it, we wouldn't say denim. This polish fits well with the collection, but as you can see on the left edge of the pointer finger, coverage can be patchy if you haven't perfected flawless application. This is the one polish we would say to skip in this collection, but that said - in two coats, it does have a really nice shade that matches well with Hide and Go Chic for a potential two-tone mani.


Overall, we're really impressed with this collection from Essie and definitely recommend picking up a few shades. Let us know what you think!

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post may have been provided by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

Swatched: Essie Resort Collection 2014

This years Resort collection from Essie features four shades ranging from a shimmery nude to a punchy peach! Check out our thoughts on the collection beside each polish below. As usual, each swatch is two coats with no top coat!



Starting off we have a nude shade that is likely suited to a little more of a tan - Cocktails & Coconuts. Although this shade is a bit off from our perfect nude, we can see how this would suit a vacation well. With a touch of shimmer, this polish is totally wearable day to night!


Next up we have one of our favourites, an ultra-light blue called Find Me an Oasis. This is such a unique colour, and it is so close to white but we are totally in love. This would work perfectly with any of the new spring collections featuring pastels. We are definitely including this in our spring must-haves and totally recommend.



Next up is a deep peach jelly polish called Resort Fling, which is surprisingly opaque in two coats. We love this polish for spring, and especially love how it pairs with Find Me an Oasis. We love this, but it is not an essential if you already have corals in your collection!



Finally we have Under the Twilight, which is described as a 'provocative, smoky plum'. This polish leans navy-black for us and we're not really in love as a spring-time shade. This polish would look great under Find Me an Oasis (can you tell how much we love it?) as they are both slightly blue.




Overall, we are not disappointed with Essie quality as usual, and are pretty happy with the shades in this collection. Are there any that you are dying to pick up, or have you tried any of these polishes? Let us know in the comments section!

Disclaimer: Some of these products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

Swatched: Rainbow Honey now available at NailPolishCanada.com!

In celebration of the launch of Rainbow Honey, a line of custom blended nail lacquer, at NailPolishCanada.com we have some Rainbow Honey swatches for your viewing pleasure. We have swatched some Rainbow Honey polishes before and while they do have great formulations on all there polishes, we go crazy for any of their glitters. We absolutely love how gorgeous their glitter polishes look and they always get colours and blends spot on... That said, bring on the swatches!




First up is Apple Kid, a super bright shimmery pink or fuchsia from The Summer of 199X Collection. This swatch is two coats with no top coat, and we love how opaque this polish is and how smooth the formulation is. This is definitely one of the brightest colours we have seen and you can't go wrong with a pink. That being said, there are plenty of other polishes that can give you a similar look if you aren't too specific with colour.




Next up from The Summer of 199X Collection is Fire Spring - this is our absolute favourite! We love a good orange, they are totally lacking in most polish lines and the shimmer in this is literally unbelievable. This is a perfect polish to match a summery tan and it reflects light like no other. This swatch is two coats, and its essentially opaque (you can almost see the nail line on the ring finger). This is a fantastic lacquer and we cannot say it enough.









This deep purpley-blue with blue shimmer is from The Final Battle Collection, called Ultimate Weapon. This applied a bit patchy as you can see on the index finger, and is nothing to write home about. If you are in love with the colour we would say go for it, but otherwise leave it on the (online) shelf.



This glitter topped, called I Miss You from The Summer of 199X Collection, is perfection. Butterfly glitter... We love it. This is one coat on top of Ultimate Weapon, and literally there are butterflies on every finger. We imagine it may take two layers of top coat to ensure that no wings are sticking out, so if that puts you off then this polish may not be for you. As mentioned, Rainbow Honey does amazing glitters and this polish is proof.






Finally we have Tidal Wave, from The Final Battle collection. This polish isn't opaque in two coats, but it is absolutely beautiful when the holographic glitter catches the light. This would be great as a topcoat over a brighter turquoise shade and for a glitter gradient. We definitely love this polish and as always, recommend any Rainbow Honey glitter.







Will you be checking out NailPolishCanada.com for any Rainbow Honey glitters? We also recommend them for any Canadians looking for Zoya - particularly the Pixie Dusts! 

Disclaimer: These products were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest opinions and review.