Tag: glitter top coat

Springing into March with Zoya Nail Polish Blu

With the official start of spring just a couple weeks away, I’m ready to transition into more pastel colors when it comes to my nails. I looked at my nail polish collection and immediately spotted Zoya Nail Polish Blu from the 2013 Lovely Collection. This is one of the first collections I received from Zoya to review, and it’s hard to believe that was 11 years ago now! I decided to pair Blu with an indie glitter polish from my collection for a fun, springtime manicure.

Zoya Nail Polish Blu

The products in this post were originally provided to me for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. Please see my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Blu is a baby blue cream polish. It has an amazing formula that is opaque in two coats. I’m impressed with how easily it applies, especially considering my bottle is over a decade old! While there were a few minor streaks when the polish dried, as soon as I applied one coat of the Zoya Naked Glossy Seal Top Coat I got a super smooth and glasslike result!

Blue Spring Manicure

To complete the manicure, I added an accent nail of KBShimmer Toying Around on my ring finger. This polish has a clear base and is packed with multicolored glitters of all different shapes and sizes. Toying Around was part of the Winter 2015 Collection and is no longer available. However, you can certainly use any glitter topper in your nail polish stash for a similar result!

Zoya Blu and KBShimmer Toying Around

I am really enjoying how my manicure turned out this week! It’s rather simple, but the glitter accent nail dresses it up a bit. Plus, sometimes it can be nice to wear a classic, cream nail polish shade for a change. I do love all of the fancy glitters, shimmers, etc., but Zoya Blu is reminding me how polished a cream can look!

Mixing Nail Polish Trends with the Revlon Leather and Tweed Collection

Happy Tuesday! I recently spotted a new Revlon display at the drugstore, and decided to pick up a couple polishes. I’m still loving the textured nail polish trend, so when I saw the Revlon Collection was called Leather and Tweed, I knew it was for me! The collection features textured polishes for the “leather” and bar glitter polishes for the “tweed.” The combination sounded quite fun and unexpected. Let me show you what they look like together!

Revlon – Rock Chic Revlon – Rock ChicThe leather polish I got is called Rock Chic, and is a bright blue textured polish. I first tried Rock Chic about a week ago, and didn’t have much luck with the textured finish. This time, I tried the polish without a base coat, and the texture showed up much better. While the formula applies very well, I did need two coats for opacity. Rock Chic takes a long time to dry, and I recommend waiting at least 10 minutes between coats. I do really love the blue color!

Revlon – Tweed Mini Revlon – Tweed MiniI completed the look with a double accent nail using Tweed Mini, the tweed polish. Tweed Mini is a glitter top coat with white, silver, blue, and black bar glitters. I applied one coat to my middle and ring fingers for this mixed-trend look. Tweed Mini has a great formula, and there is no fishing for glitters required.

All in all, I’m really liking this look! I never would have thought to mix textured nail polish and glitter in one manicure, but Revlon’s marketing worked on me. I think I’ll be mixing my nail polish trends more often! You can purchase the Leather and Tweed Collection at your local drugstore for around $5 each. Make sure to check the limited edition displays before these fabulous and affordable polishes sell out! Plus, let me know if you’ve ever mixed your nail polish trends in the comments!

Nubar in Kristal | Review & Swatches

Happy Thursday! A few weeks back, I received a Nubar polish in my Beauty Box 5 (see that post HERE). At first, I thought it was a flakie polish, but it turns out to be a glitter top coat! Let me go ahead and show you Nubar Kristal!

Nubar – Kristal Nubar – KristalKristal is a glitter top coat in a clear base filled with holographic, hexagonal glitters in small and large. I layered one coat over Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics in Tarred, a plain, black creme. Kristal has a great formula that applies smoothly. There is no need to fish for glitters, and a lot of glitters come out on the first coat. I sealed the manicure with Essie Good to Go! top coat.

Nubar – Kristal I love how Kristal looks over Tarred – it’s almost like twinkling stars in a dark night. The holographic glitters shift from green to gold with hints of blue over the black base. It’s just gorgeous!

All in all, I’m really loving Nubar Kristal. I can’t wait to try it over different polishes, since I’m sure it will look pretty in many combinations. You can purchase a full size bottle of Kristal on Amazon HERE. Be sure to let me know what your favorite Nubar polishes are in the comments!

Some of the products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Zoya Monet Special Effect Topper | Swatches & Nail Art

Happy Thursday! Earlier this week, I showed you the complete Zoya Awaken Collection (see that review HERE). In addition to those stunning polishes, Zoya also released a new special effect top coat called Monet. Zoya describes Monet as a multi-colored, cellophane holographic topper, and I completely agree! I decided to try it with all of the Awaken polishes, and in a nail art look as well. In each of the manicures below, I applied one coat of Monet, followed with one coat of the butter LONDON Hardwear top coat.

Zoya – Dot + Monet Zoya – Dot + MonetMonet over Dot

Zoya – Cole + Monet Zoya – Cole + MonetMonet over Cole

Zoya – Hudson + Monet Zoya – Hudson + MonetMonet over Hudson

Zoya – Dillon + Monet Zoya – Dillon + MonetMonet over Dillon

Zoya – Rebel + Monet Zoya – Rebel + MonetMonet over Rebel

Zoya – Brooklyn + Monet Zoya – Brooklyn + MonetMonet over Brooklyn

Before I show you the nail art I created, I just wanted to mention Monet’s formula. It is a bit thick, but it’s very easy to work with. The glitters apply with ease, and as you can see, one coat provides a great amount of glitters.

Zoya Awaken + Monet Gradient Zoya Awaken + Monet Gradient Zoya Awaken + Monet GradientLast but not least is a nail art look I created using Dot, Cole, and Monet. I finally found an easy gradient technique, so I began with that and applied Monet on top. I’m loving it so much! If you would like to see a tutorial on this manicure, please let me know in the comments!

All in all, Monet is a gorgeous top coat that goes with basically any and every nail polish! It retails for $10 on Zoya’s website HERE. While a bit more than I usually like to pay, Monet is a great investment polish. I highly recommend it, and will be sure to wear it often!

The products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

My Holy Grail Manicure: Essie Butler Please and Different Dimension Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock

Happy Sunday! Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite manicures of all time. I love it so much I am calling it my Holy Grail Manicure! In other words, this is the best of the best in terms of formula, color, polish names, and so on. Let me get right into the goodness and show you the polish!

 

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First up is the gorgeous Butler Please from the Essie Winter Collection of 2012. Back in March I was in a bit of a “polish funk”. Nothing that I put on my nails was exciting me. Then, I got Butler Please, put it on, and my funk officially ended! Butler Please has a flawless formula that applies like a dream and is opaque in two coats. It is also a bright blue color that is just stunning! I am still blown away by how beautiful this color is. Butler Please has been compared to Nails Inc Baker Street, but this is truly unlike anything I own in my personal collection. This will definitely be my go to blue polish from now on. I can’t wait to use it again!

 

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I was loving Butler Please so much that even when the tips were starting to show wear after several days, I made my manicure last longer by adding an amazing glitter top coat from the indie brand Different Dimension. I am a huge fan of the TV show the Big Bang Theory, and my mom kindly gave me the entire Big Bang collection that Different Dimension makes. I had a good feeling that Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock (RPSLS) would look great over Butler Please, and I think I made a great choice! RPSLS is a glitter top coat with a just a slightly blue tinted base, and filled with fine white glitter and white, light blue, light green, and grey hexagonal glitters. The formula is great, and the glitters apply with ease. I layered just one coat of RPSLS over Buter Please, and the result was just phenomenal! I could not stop staring at my nails when I had this manicure on.

All in all, I hope you enjoy my Holy Grail Manicure as much as I do! I love when nail polishes not only have a beautiful color, but a great formula as well. I also love that RPSLS is part of a collection based off of one of my favorite TV shows! There is just so much to love! Although Butler Please is no longer available in drugstores, you can purchase it on Amazon HERE. Make sure you head on over to the Different Dimension Etsy shop to purchase RPSLS and the other Big Bang Theory polishes HERE.

Let me know what your Holy Grail Manicure is in the comments!

 

Some of the above links are affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Dare to Compare Week! Day Four — Multi-Colored Glitter

Happy Thursday! It is Day Four of Dare to Compare Week, and today’s post deals with glitter, something any nail polish aficionado loves! While indie brands do glitter top coats best, many boutique and drugstore brands are now creating some glitters that are just as eye-catching. Since my favorite muli-colored glitter from the indie AbsolutLacquer is now discontinued, I wanted to see how some available polishes compared. Let me show you what I discovered!

 

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From left to right, the polishes are AbsolutLacquer in Maybe I’m Crazy, Lex Cosmetics in Arcoiris, and Milani Jewel FX in Gems. They do look a bit different in the bottle, but let’s see what they look like on the nail. I applied one coat of each polish over white in all the photos you are about to see.

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Polish Name: Milani Jewel FX in Gems

Price: $4.99 [Buy HERE]

Formula: Surprisingly great!

Color Description: Multi-colored glitter with small and medium hexagons.

Bonus: So fun, and can be purchased at the drugstore!

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Polish Name: Lex Cosmetics in Arcoiris

Price: $10 [Buy HERE]

Formula: Great formula! Some reflective curling, but lays perfectly flat on the nail.

Color Description: Multi-colored glitter with small, medium, and large hexagons.

Bonus: The formula does separate in the bottle, but with a few shakes it is good to go!

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Polish Name: AbsolutLacquer in Maybe I’m Crazy

Price: Discontinued! This polish is no longer created or sold.

Formula: This bottle needs a good shake to ensure the glitters are mixed and ready for application!

Color Description: Multi-colored glitters in all shapes and sizes!

Bonus: This was my very first indie polish!

 

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Here we have each polish shown side by side. From left to ride is the Milani, the Lex, and the AbsolutLacquer. While my personal favorite of the bunch is Maybe I’m Crazy from AbsolutLacquer, I would definitely find one of the other two to be an acceptable substitute. Both have an excellent formula! I would choose Milani Gems due to its $4.99 price tag over the Lex, but if you are a sucker for the large hexagonal glitter that would be your new go to. This comparison gives me hope that I will be able have a back-up for my Maybe I’m Crazy once my bottle is empty!

What do you do when a favorite polish is discontinued?! What is your favorite glitter top coat?!

Some of the products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.