Candied Lustre: Swatches and Review

Hi everyone!

Today I have these beautiful polishes to review for you: Candied Lustre 

Here's a list of them (from left to right):

• Sea 'N Waves: light blue jelly with scattered holo glitter 
• Autumn: A pink/coral jelly with red, blue, white, green, pink, purple and light yellow hexes in different sizes
• Cafe Au Lait: A jelly thermal with scattered holo that transitions from orange when hot to brown when cold
• Why So Blue?:A glitter topper with holo glitter, blue hexes, silver squares, small yellow hexes, different sized navy hexes and bar glitters
• Spice It Up: A red jelly with a variety of colored glitters in different shapes in sizes

First swatch is of Cafe Au Lait, 4 coats. Because it's a jelly, it was pretty sheer but the beauty of this makes it so worth it! This polish is PERFECT for fall, and the holo just makes it amazing!

Isn't it beautiful?!? And here's some solo shots:

also seems like it has golden flakies.

I did have some trouble at first with the application because i experienced some balding, but i just started doing thinner coats instead and it worked amazing.

Next swatch is of Autumn,  4 coats. Application and formula were awesome. I think I just needed extra coats because my nails are so long. 

I wanted to show the glitters better, so I couldn't avoid the glare

I love this one so much! The glitter combo goes so well!

Next swatch is of Sea 'N Waves, 4 coats. Again, because it's a jelly it's pretty sheer. I didn't layer it over anything because I wanted to show what the polish actually looked like. 

LOVE IT! 

Next swatch is of Spice It Up, 4 coats. its not as bright as its coming off, but it's definitely a bright red.

And the final swatch is of Why So Blue?, 1 coat over Essie Turquoise & Caicos and on my ring finger i layered it over American Apparel Cotton. Great application and formula.

I loved these polishes! I mean, you can't go wrong with holo!! I'm not the biggest fan of sheer polishes, but I don't mind layering it over something. I definitely see myself reaching for these regularly, especially Cafe Au Lait cause its perfect for fall. The only thing that  I do have to complain about, well it's not really a complaint cause it didn't really bother me, is the smell on some of these were kinda strong or just different from the usual smell that I'm used to. But, for me, it wasn't anything bad. You can purchase these polishes at Bri's esty store by clicking here

I also asked Bri a couple of questions so we can get to know the person behind the indie brand so here they are:

      1. What's the inspiration behind the colors you create?

                    A: "Anything with color inspires me. Color schemes, seasons, holidays, desserts. I LOVE color."

2. When did your love for polish begin?

            A: "I have loved polish since my childish days. I started painting my nails with kids peel off polishes. Then graduated to regular lacquer and never stopped. I used to paint my mom's nails and even my dads...shhhhh. His was a quick swatch and had to be removed ASAP."  Lol I think every girl has done that once or twice (;

3. How can customers follow you on social media?

             A: I currently have IG, twitter, and Facebook

•  IG: @Candiedlustre_nails
• Twitter: @candiedlustre
• FB: Facebook.com/candiedlustre
• And of course my etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/candiedlustre

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OPI Mariah Carey Collection for Holiday 2013: Swatches & Review- Part 3

Hi everyone! 

Today I have the last six shades in this collection: Liquid Sands. I was surprised by how many of these I actually liked because 2 of them looked really similar. So here is the list of them, along with OPI's description:

• It’s Frosty Outside: This frosted silver is so icy it’s hot
• Silent Stars Go By: This blush of textured pink has parades of sparkle
• Make Him Mine: But make this textured glistening rose mine first!
• Baby Please Come Home: Can’t wait to see you...in this textured and sparkling lilac
• Kiss Me at Midnight: It’s time to fall in love with this frosted ice blue
• Emotions: This dramatic sparkling coal has got me feeling fine

All swatches have 2 coats of I Snow You Love Me on my ring finger. Hope you guys like my swatches!

First swatch It’s Frosty Outside, 3 coats. The formula was awesome and application as well! I actually really like this one, even though it didn't look really interesting in the bottle.

Next swatch is of Silent Stars Go By, 3 coats. This one looks similar to Make Him Mine, but just slightly lighter.

Next swatch is of Make Him Mine, 3 coats. I actually really like this one. 

Next swatch is of Baby Please Come Home, 3 coats. Its actually not as dark. I thought I was gonna like it more.

Next swatch is of Kiss Me at Midnight, 3 coats. One of my favorites! Very sparkly.

And last swatch is of Emotions, 2 coats. It's basically a black liquid sand with black glitter. It's so pretty!

The ring finger looks weird because the coat of I Snow You Love Me to add the glitters made it look like that. I honestly prefer it as textured than with a top coat. It wouldn't look so bad if i didn't have to layer the glitter so thick but the glitters are really sparse and you catch more base coat on your brush than the glitters. sucks cause you get a lot of bubbles if you're not careful.

Overall, I like this collection, but it's not anything I'm crazy about. It could be because I like spring or summer colors more since they're so bright. But I feel like OPI should do more, I mean, I understand reds are a big thing during the holiday collections, but they look pretty similar and they don't stand out. What do you guys think about this collection?

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OPI Mariah Carey Collection for Holiday 2013: Swatches & Review- Part 2

Hey guys! 

Here's my 5th post and today I'm showing the second part of the OPI Mariah Carey Collection: The Reds. These are probably the ones I was least excited about, but I don't know, I really ended up liking them.

Here are the 6 reds and their descriptions according to OPI:

• Sleigh Ride for Two: There’s only room left for this dark hot chocolate
• Visions of Love: I see this rich burgundy in my immediate future.  
• Underneath the Mistletoe: Is my kiss as spicy-sweet as this candy-apple red?
• In My Santa Suit: This generously pigmented red is worth staying on the “nice” list.  
• All I Want for Christmas (is OPI): This marvelous maroon is present-ly my top choice.
• Cute Little Vixen: This deep red violet has foxy written all over it. 

I layered two coats of I Snow You Love Me on my ring finger to show what it looks like over each color. Also, all are with one coat of top coat.

First swatch is of Sleigh Ride For Two, 2 coats. I think its more of a mahogany red with a slight shimmer. I like it, but nothing super interesting.

Second swatch is of Visions of Love, 3 coats. This is also a mahogany red. And this totally reminds me of Christmas! It's so simple, yet I love it (:

Next swatch is Underneath the Mistletoe, 3 coats. This is a dark red with silver and violet shimmer/glitter. It's not shimmer cause its way more visible than that, but its not really big glitter. I really like this one too, its very interesting and I can honestly say I don't have anything like this in my collection.

Next swatch is In My Santa Suit, 3 coats. This is also a slight dark red, with red shimmer through out.

Next swatch is All I Want for Christmas (is OPI), 3 coats. This is a true red. And I love it! I know I have dupes for this, for sure, but there's a reason why I do. I still would've preferred something more interesting, but I mean its a Christmas collection and they basically go hand in hand. 

And the last swatch is Cute Little Vixen, 3 coats. A red violet with  shimmer throughout. 

The formula and application were great. Out of these 6, I think I would just pick up Underneath The Mistletoe and Visions of Love. Tell me what you guys think about this collection below!

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OPI Mariah Carey Collection for Holiday 2013: Swatches & Review- Part 1

Hi everyone!

Here's my 4th post: OPI Mariah Carey Collection for Holiday 2013: Swatches & Review- Part 1

The first part of my swatches for the Mariah Carey Collection will be the browns and glitters. Here are the descriptions done by OPI:

• I Snow You Love Me: Just like I snow you love this disco light confetti.
• Ski Slope Sweetie: This golden pearl is everybunny’s favorite.
• My Favorite Ornament: Make this champagne glitter your new personal favorite.
• Wonderous Star: This gold-flecked shimmer has heavenly shine. 
• All Sparkly and Gold: What more can we say...the name says it all.  
• Warm Me Up: This spiced coffee hits all the cold spots.    

I have done all swatches with one 2 coats of  I Snow You Love Me on my ring finger to show what it looks like on each polish, except on Warm Me Up.

First swatch is Ski Slope Sweetie, I did 4 coats on its own with one layer of top coat. This is white polish with golden shimmer through out. I literally felt like I was applying snow on my nails lol because of how the polish looks. You'll know when you apply it.

The second swatch is My Favorite Ornament, I did 3 coats with no undies. Its basically loaded with champagne micro glitter. I really like it but it could be more interesting.

Next swatch is Wonderous Star, 3 coats with no undies. This polish basically slightly darker that My Favorite Ornament, with small black circular glitters through out. 

All Sparkly and Gold, 3 coats with no undies. Its another micro glitter polish, except in gold. Its still pretty but I wish they would've done something more I guess.

And the last swatch is Warm Me Up, 3 coats but I could have probably only done 2 coats. I love this one! I didn't think I would because it's just a brown, but I don't know, maybe its the perfect shade of brown, plus it has a slight shimmer through out it.

Overall, the application and formula was awesome on these 6 polishes. Ski Slope Sweetie was a bit sheer, but totally buildable. If you're a polish hoarder collector, then you need the whole collection duh! lol but if you're just looking to buy a few, I like Warm Me Up and Ski Slope Sweetie from these 6. But I just don't understand the need of 3 similar shades. It's like they went "uhh whatever" and called it a day... do you guys feel the same way?

Anyways, next 6 swatches will be up soon!

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DIY: Removing Stains from Nails

Hello everyone!

Today I have my 3rd post and its a tutorial/DIY post.

So I recently swatched Rain City Lacquer (if you want to see the swatches click here) and the base I used for Space Needle Starlight: Sinful Colors Opening Night, stained my nails really bad, as you can see here:

Yeah sucks ): Cause its such a pretty color, but oh well.

So I decided to do a tutorial on how to remove these stains. First off, this is the list of things you're gonna need:

•Baking Soda

•Hydrogen Peroxide

•Little measuring cups & a Bowl

•Q-Tips

•A stick, or something to mix( I just used the tip of my nail art brush, it won't really damage it, just to be safe use an orange stick)

So, first make sure that your nails are clean and you have removed as much polish as you can. Then you want to measure 2 1/2 Tablespoons of baking soda in your measuring spoon:

And 1 tablespoon of Hydrogen Peroxide:

And then take your orange stick and mix them together, I ended up adding a bit more hydrogen peroxide because it was too thick. It should have a paste like substance.

                                 

Then take your Q-tips and gently add the paste to each nail on one hand, make sure to get under your nails if you have long nails.

Eventually you'll have your whole hand done, you can leave the paste on for about 3 minutes and then rinse with warm water.

I probably put too much, but i just wanted to get everything off

After you rinse, repeat on your other hand, and you're all done! Here are my end results:

They're still yellow because i paint my nails too much lol, but its ok, because I almost always have my nails painted. As you can see, it did remove most of it, i buffed my nails slightly and it removed everything completely. Hopefully it works for you guys as well, let me know if it works for you as well!

Oh and remember to apply lotion after because the hydrogen peroxide drys out your hands a bit!

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Rain City Laquer: Swatches & Review

Hey guys!

A couple days ago, I received these 5 Rain City Lacquers:

They're so pretty right!?! Rain City Lacquers is an fairly new indie company from Seattle, WA(hence the name) and was created by Rica. I'll be including a little 'The person behind the indie company" section after the swatches when I do reviews, so we can all get to know the creative minds of these awesome indie brands, but first, lets show some swatches!

First swatch is Space Needle Starlight which is a "deep blue jelly polish with iridescent and holographic glitters". The application and formula was great, I layered 3 coats of it over Sinful Colors Opening Night:

This has a slight glare but I want to show the awesomeness of the glitters

And heres a GIF of it, pretty cool that google makes them for you

I really love this polish because it makes me think of the night sky, and because of those big circular glitters! They're my favorite!

Second swatch is of Milk & Macarons, a polish with "Pastel circular glitters and black heart shaped glitter in a milky white base. I layered 3 coats over American Appearl's Cotton, which is an off white polish, leaning towards a light cream:

This polish is so girly! I love it! i had no trouble with the application of this polish. it was really easy to get the black hearts on to the brush.

The next swatch is Strawberry Milk & Macarons, is a polish with "Pastel circular glitters and black heart shaped glitter in a light pink crelly base." I used 3 coats over China Glaze Angel's Breath. The formula was also great and application was a breeze. I didn't have to fish any glitters out.

If the one before was girly, this one takes the prize! lol And I don't know why, but I just love how the black hearts and circles stand out so much against the lightness of the pastels. 

The next swatch is Party Teal Ur Purple, a "mix of matte and translucent glitter shapes, along with black and metallic bars in a pastel teal crelly base." I layered 2 coats over China Glaze Sea Spray, the formula was great as well(:

I think you can wear this one without an undie, because the base was more opaque than the others. This polish is such an interesting combination of glitters! It has holo shimmer through out, as well as these fuschia glitters through out the base.

And the last polish is Berry Starry Night, a "Cranberry colored jelly polish with iridescent and holographic glitters" plus, it also has golden stars! I layered 3  coats over OPI The Show Must Go On! .

I love the iridescent glitters in this! It adds so much depth. The application and formula were amazing as well!

Overall, I loved these polishes. The glitter combinations were great! Though I don't like that they're so sheer, but i know that it would change the look of them and I don't mind layering them over something. You can purchase these polish at $10 each at Rica's storefront by clicking here. I also asked Rica a few questions so we can get to know her a bit more:

1. What's the inspiration behind the colors you create?   
          A:  "My inspiration is drawn from the rainy city of Seattle, WA... that is why many of my polishes are Seattle and Northwest themed. Other polishes are inspired by my every day interests and experiences. I have an obsession with sweets like macarons & cupcakes! ;) I love creating polish, & thinking of ways to make something ordinary into a vibrant nail polish."

2. When did your love for polish begin?

              A: "My love and passion for nail polish began about two years ago. I used to have a serious nail biting problem until i started painting my nails. I then discovered the endless and immensely addicting world of nail color!  When I started looking at indie brands I started thinking of what I wanted in a polish, and I realized that I could use my creativity to make my own polish line. Thus, "Rain City" was born. I'm just starting out, so I am always researching what people might like, looking for reviewers, & thinking about how I can improve my brand.

3. How can customers follow you on social media?

            A:

• Ig: @raincitylacquer
• Fb: facebook.com/raincitylacquer
• Tweet: @raincitylacquer
• Storefront: www.raincitylacquer.bigcartel.com

So there you go girls! I Hope you guys enjoy this post. Which polish was your favorite? Let me know down below! 

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