Dermelect Gilded

Ever wonder what would happen if someone took Chanel Peridot (aka possibly my favorite polish ever) and turned it into an awesome metallic textured polish? Well then I gotta introduce you to Dermelect Gilded! This rich gold from Dermelect's new Bejeweled Collection has the teal color shift of a duochrome, the gleaming metallic finish of a foil and the finish of a texture. Basically, there's a lotta stuff going on here and it's all awesome!

This was my first time trying one of Dermelect's polishes and I was very impressed not only by how beautiful Gilded itself is, but by the excellent formula too. It applied very smoothly and covered in three coats.

I'm surprised we don't see more metallic textures; I like them a lot! Gilded is not only a great textured polish, but also a perfect fall metallic. As I mentioned above, there's a lot of different elements to this polish, yet they all work marvelously together!

You can purchase Dermelect from their website. Also, a quick note that they are currently hosting a fun contest through their Instagram account (@dermelect) where if you post a picture of your favorite Dermelect mani with your favorite piece of jewelery, you could win all four polishes from the Bejeweled Collection! Stay tuned for more photos of the Bejeweled beauties in the days to come... ;)


Disclosure: This polish was sent to me for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

OPI Do You Have This Color In Stockholm?

OPI Do You Have This Color In Stockholm? is a blurple creme from the Nordic Collection. It's a little tough to photograph, since my camera makes it look closer to a true purple than it actually is, but trust me, it's blurple! And I gotta say, this may be one of OPI's best purple(-ish) shades ever

As I discussed in my review for My Dogsled Is A Hybrid, I bought the minis set for the Nordic Collection. I find it's a bit tricky to comment on formula with minis, but I'll try. The first coat here was kinda streaky, but after that I didn't have any issues. This polish wound up covering nicely in three coats.

So this is another nice one from the Nordic Collection. I'm loving how rich and pigmented it is, plus it's such a great summer-to-fall transitional polish!

Zoya Remy

I have this color somewhere in my stash. I couldn't name you the exact polish, but given my buying tendencies and my affinity for jewel tones, I know that I do. But when I saw Zoya Remy...I just couldn't resist. This rich, deep teal with intense gold shimmer swept me off my feet.

I don't have any complaints with the actual formula--it's great and covers in two coats--but I will say that Remy stains something awful. I had one stain on my right index finger that was so bad I actually had to cut that nail because the stain toward the tip of my nail that would not come out. So definitely use caution when applying this one. Double up on the base coat and stay as far away from the edges of your nail as you can, otherwise you'll be dealing with some major cuticle staining. I feel like a lot of Zoya teals stain, which is unfortunate because they are always so stinkin' pretty!

Staining aside though, this really is a lovely color. The base color is so rich and luxurious-looking and the shimmer is to die for! To me, Remy is one of the standouts from Zoya's fall offerings!

Twinsie Tuesday: Sideways French Mani

This week, we're doing sideways French manis! I have to admit, I'd never heard of this particular look before. But while I'm not a fan of traditional French manicures, a sideways French did seem pretty fun.

So I busted out some French tip guides and then I used two Azature polishes: Coral Diamond for my base and Lapis Diamond over top.

I'm actually pretty pleased with how this turned out! It doesn't look perfect, but I don't think it's bad for a first attempt! The guides made everything super easy, so all I really had to worry about was clean-up.

I'll be curious to see if my fellow Twinsies liked this theme as much as I did! Be sure to take a look at their blogs today to find out! :)

​

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace
Anna at Going to the Showing
Bridget at A Painted Nail

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

​Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision​

Disclaimer: These polishes were provided to me for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Jamberry Liberty & Matte Top Coat: Review & Swatches--Plus A Giveaway!

Jamberry is well known for their nail wraps, but did you know they make polish too? Yep, Jamberry now has its own line of polish, as well as other essentials like base and top coats, and today we'll be taking a peek at some of what they have to offer!

Jamberry sells their products through individual consultants and the consultant I worked with this time is named Amanda. She was very hands-on and willing to help! You can visit her Jamberry site (where you can also place orders, if you are so inclined) HERE. She had me pick a color to try and I selected Liberty, an inky shade of navy with a high-shine finish.

The formula is excellent--virtually a one-coater. I did use two just to even a few patches out on a couple of the nails. I like that Liberty is visibly blue, not black (Near-blacks are a pet peeve of mine.) and it's got such a beautiful shine to it, too! The pictures you see above were taken without top coat, so it has that gleam all on its own.

I skipped the top coat because Amanda was also generous enough to send me some of Jamberry's Matte Top Coat to try! Here it is over Liberty:

It is, quite simply, the best matte top coat I've ever used. The consistency is spot-on and it delivers a true matte finish in no time. I was very impressed!

But wait, there's more! :) Amanda is also offering a free Jamberry glitter top coat to one lucky Nailed reader! See the Rafflecopter widget below for details and the giveaway rules. Good luck, everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway  


Disclosure: These products were provided to me for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Gwen Stefani For OPI Holiday 2014 Preview

OPI began 2014 with a Gwen Stefani collab and it looks like they'll be ending it in the same fashion with their holiday collection. I for one really liked the first Gwen collection so I'm not complaining! Let's take a look at what's in store.

Source

So. Much. Red. Why, OPI, why?? I know red is Gwen's signature color, but seeing as that was already captured in the gorgeous Over And Over A-Gwen from the last collection, I don't see why we needed so many reds this time around. Oh well. The nail effects do look really cool though. I'm definitely looking forward to those!

See anything you'll be putting on your holiday wishlist?

Lacquistry Amazeballz

Lacquistry Amazeballz is a bit of a tricky polish to describe because there isn't really anything out there like it. Imagine if you could apply little bits of mirror onto your fingernails. That's what Amazeballz is like. But enough talking. Just look at this and then go buy it as soon as humanly possible! It. Is. Awesome.

Pictures don't do true justice to how shiny and reflective Amazeballz is. I can practically see my reflection in my polish! How cray-cray is that?! Another cool thing with Amazeballz is that it feels extremely smooth on the nail. There aren't any jagged edges like you sometimes get with polishes that have individual mylar pieces in them. I couldn't tell you what exactly Amazeballz is made with, but it's something entirely different and unique. It's also very opaque, requiring only two coats to be worn alone.

So yeah. Seriously, buy this from Lacquistry! It's unlike anything I've seen before and it's totally worth the splurge!

Deborah Lippmann Music Box Preview

As promised, today I've got a closer look for you at Deborah Lippmann's upcoming Music Box set. This extra-large box set is part of DL's 15th anniversary celebration and there is a mini-sized polish for each year! The polishes come housed in a keepsake music box. No information yet on what song it will play, (Update: It will play Deborah singing "I Dreamed A Dream"!) but most importantly, we do know what the polishes will look like! Check it out!

 

Top row, L to R: Daydream Believer, The Climb, Magic To Do, My Coloring Book, Pure Imagination

Middle row, L to R: Looks Like We Made It, I Dreamed A Dream, Love Will Leave A Mark, 1999, We Are Family

Bottom row, L to R: Hey Jude, I Will Survive, Land Of Make Believe, Come Fly With Me, A Hard Day's Night

Source

Looks like quite a collection! I'd love to have it if the asking price isn't too high! I don't have an exact release date or pricing info yet, but I'll update this post when I come across it. 

Update: The set will cost $195! Yowza!

Review: Mont Bleu Beauty Tools

Today I've got a pretty big post, with some awesome beauty tools from Czech company Mont Bleu! Mont Bleu is perhaps best known for their crystal glass nail files and over the years, they've expanded to other areas of the beauty market, such as tweezers, hair brushes, compact mirrors and jewelry.

We'll kick things off with the product Mont Bleu is famous for: their files. Made from Czech tempered glass and decorated with Swarovski crystal elements, they're as pretty as they are practical. They have a huge variety of colors and styles to choose from. Mine are in my two favorite colors: pink and blue!

Some close-ups of the beautiful crystal patterns on the files. They were hard to photograph because they were so crazy reflective!

These crystal files have a fine grit to them but they also feel very durable, so they're perfect for someone like me who tends to get a little overzealous when using files. They should last a good, long time without getting all scuffed and scratched up like traditional files do.

Next up we've got a set of eyebrow tweezers. Like the files, the tweezers are also decorated with Swarovski elements. However, Mont Bleu also offers plain tweezers, if crystals aren't your thing. Personally, I think everything should be as bejeweled and bedazzled as much as possible. ;)

The tweezers have a nice balance to them, making them easy and comfortable to hold and use. The surface of the tweezers is rubberized to prevent them from slipping out of your hand.

The stainless steel slant-tip is very precise and sharp, so you can grab even fine, short hairs without a problem. I've got a pair of Tweezerman tweezers and these easily match those in quality.

Next is a crystal glass foot file. You can't really tell in the picture, but the blue end has a smooth portion, to make the file easier and more comfortable to grip. 

Have you ever used a foot file where it's like, "Well, this isn't so much filing as it is ripping apart the skin on my feet?" Yeah, this isn't like those at all. The grit's obviously coarser, since it's designed for feet, but it's still very fine at the same time, allowing for precise and effective filing. This is easily the best foot file I've ever tried!

Then last but not least, we've got a lovely set of Swarovski crystal earrings:

I wore these to work and they were nice and comfortable throughout the day. They're a good size for studs--big enough to be noticed but not so large they take over your whole ear. Plus I love how shiny and reflective they are! They really catch the light!

So overall, some great products here that marry beautiful presentation with impressive quality. Any of these would make a fantastic gift for the beauty lover in your life or a nice treat for yourself! ;)

You can purchase Mont Bleu products from their website. They ship internationally and for me, the deliver process went off without a hitch.

Have you tried anything from Mont Bleu before? What beauty tools could you not live without?


Disclosure: These products were went to me for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Amandalandish Charity Blog Grab Bag Sale

My girl Amanda over at Amandalandish is having an amazing grab bag sale for charity and I thought I'd take a few minutes to tell you about it! Amanda is offering grab bags at the rate of $2.50 per polish, plus flat rate shipping costs. You'll receive polishes from her stash, so there'll be a variety of brands, finishes, colors, etc. available. As someone who has received many a nail mail from Amanda, I can attest to the fact that she has some awesome polishes!

But most importantly, all proceeds from this blog sale, minus the shipping fee, will go directly to the National Eating Disorders Association, a leading non-profit dedicated to improving awareness, as well as increased support and access to health and wellness resources for those suffering from eating disorders. She's already raised over $60 in just one day, so I hope this sale will continue its success!

If you'd like to learn more, please see Amanda's post about the charity sale HERE.

Twinsie Tuesday: Rainbow Honey Lunairetic

This week's Twinsie Tuesday theme is a classic mani. Everyone's definition of "classic" is different, so there are a lotta directions you could take this theme in: a French mani, a favorite polish, a palette cleanser shade, etc.

As for me...well, time got away from me this week, so I was originally planning on sitting this week out, except I really hate doing that. So I'm not gonna lie, I scoured my archives for something that might fit this theme and I came up with this: an old layering of Rainbow Honey Lunairetic over Barielle Miami Heat. The base is red, which is a good start for any classic mani and Lunairetic is a gold, silver, pink and purple glitterbomb from waaaayyy back to RH's second collection. RH is one of my all-time favorite brands, so to me, an older polish of theirs IS a classic!

Although I kinda shoehorned it into this week's theme, I really do like this mani! I think red is a great base to showcase the rich metallics of Lunairetic, which is such a fun glitter topper.

I hope my Twinsies will forgive me for cheating a bit this week. Be sure to check out their classic manis as well!

​

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace
Anna at Going to the Showing
Bridget at A Painted Nail

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

​Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision​

OPI Green On The Runway

I was scrolling through my blog pics the other day and discovered some swatches if OPI Green On The Runway that I totally forgot about. So this post is a bit late, but that's okay because I think this makes a better fall color anyways.

As soon as I saw the Coca-Cola Collection preview pics, I knew I had to have Green On The Runway. In my opinion, it's the most interesting shade in the collection and you know I have a soft spot for greens! Green On The Runway is a deep forest green duochrome that shifts to a rich shade of reddish brown.

The formula is a bit brushstroke-y, but otherwise it's very easy to work with. I used two coats here. Sometimes the color shift in OPI's duochromes don't look as strong on the nail as it does in the bottle, but I'm happy to say that this has a nice, easily visible shift to it on the nail as well. Yay!

If you love green, this is a must-have, plain and simple. It's a perfect mossy green for fall. So if you haven't already, snatch this one up before it's gone!

OPI My Dogsled Is A Hybrid

For the OPI Nordic Collection, I did something I hardly ever do: I bought the minis set. I've gone on record saying I hate OPI minis (the handle is too stinkin' small to work with!) but the set had all four polishes I was interested in from this collection, so it was a lot more economical to bite the bullet and buy the damn minis than to spring for individual full sizes. This will either be a great money-saving solution or a terrible idea that ends in me swearing off OPI minis for all eternity again. Only time will tell!

So first up, we'll be taking a look at My Dogsled Is A Hybrid, a beautiful seafoam green creme. This is a bit of an unusual color for a fall collection. Normally when we see greens like this for fall, they've got a bit of dust or grime to them. But this is an unapologetically bright and cheery shade and also the one I was looking forward to most from the Nordic Collection.

Commenting on the formula with minis is a bit tricky, but I'll give it a shot. I found My Dogsled Is A Hybrid to be a bit streaky. There was some drag to it as well, but again, I can't tell if that's just the mini brush or the polish itself. Overall though, it applied pretty nicely. I used three coats here.

So far, the minis have been alright and I am eager to try more colors! Already though, I can tell that this is going to be one of the standouts. If you loved other OPI colors like Mermaid's Tears or Thanks A Windmillion! then you'll want to check out My Dogsled Is A Hybrid. Consider it their peppier younger sister!

How are you liking the Nordic Collection? And minis: love or loathe? Let me know in the comments!

Azature Rose Diamond

I've reviewed a couple Azature polishes before, but this is my first time trying one of their cremes! As you might already know, Azature's claim to fame is that every bottle of their polish is made with a real black diamond and their creme polishes are no exception.

Azature Rose Diamond is a vibrant pink with a high-gloss finish. This is one of those go-to colors that you can count on for any occasion and any time of year. Wherever you're going and whatever you're wearing, this pink will work!

The formula is fantastic, reaching opacity in two easy coats. I've been very impressed with the quality and application of Azature's polishes in general. They not only have a luxurious presentation to them, with their faceted bottle design, but the actual product is top-notch as well.

You can purchase Azature from their website.


Disclosure: This polish was sent to me for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Review: Katarina Naturals Nail Polish Removers

Katarina Naturals is a Michigan-based company (which, as a fellow Michigander, I love) that sells their products through Amazon and Michigan-Made. As the name implies, they are focused on creating all-natural, cruelty-free beauty solutions. Today we'll be taking a look at their natural polish removers!

Katarina Naturals offers two different removers: one that is acetone-based and another that is completely acetone-free. Let's take a look at the acetone-based remover first.

The acetone-based remover is made from plant-based materials and is petroleum-free. It has a fruity scent to it as well. A 4 oz bottle retails for just under six dollars.

You use this just like regular polish remover, but since the concentration of acetone is less than 75%, it's gentler and less drying than a pure acetone remover. I've removed several manis with it and I'm happy to say it works great! It's gentle and non-drying, but still gets the job done.

Laurie from Katarina told me she has had luck using this as a soak-off remover for gels and while I wasn't able to test that myself, it goes to show you that even though this remover is natural, it's powerful stuff. If you gave me the choice between this and pure acetone remover, I'd reach for this remover in a heartbeat! It's so much nicer on your nails, without sacrificing efficiency.

Now let's take a look at the acetone-free remover! In addition to being acetone-free, this remover is also petroleum and toluene-free and is made from agricultural ingredients. It has a fresh, minty scent to it.

For this remover, soaking is recommended rather than scrubbing. I have a set of nail soakers I got off Ebay a couple years ago, so I filled them with the remover and soaked my nails for just over 10 minutes.

After I popped the soakers off, all it took was a gentle swipe of a cotton pad and all of the polish came straight off! Normally after I've soaked my nails in traditional remover, like for a glitter mani, they look and feel very brittle afterwards; you can tell the acetone has taken its toll. But with this remover, my nails felt perfectly normal. My actual fingers felt like they could use a little hand cream, but with my nails, there was no dryness or brittleness. I've never used an acetone-free remover before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was very impressed with this!

Whether your nails are in need of some rehab or you're looking for a gentler alternative for everyday use, I highly recommend either of these removers! They're lovely products that should appeal to the eco-conscious and polish-crazy alike!


Disclosure: These products were sent to me for my honest review. For more information, please

Zoya Sansa

This week's Twinsie Tuesday theme has us doing manis inspired by a book. I love reading and, along with doing my nails, it's one of my favorite ways to unwind after a long day! When I first saw this theme on the TT schedule, I had some sort of awesome idea for it that I remember being very excited about. But then a few weeks passed and...well...I kinda forgot just what that idea was. D'oh!

So instead, I decided to showcase Zoya Sansa from the new Ignite Collection. While this polish is absolutely lovely, as a fan of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series (and of course, its TV adaptation, a little show you might have heard of called Game of Thrones), I really bought it for the name. If you haven't read the books or seen the show, Sansa Stark is the eldest daughter of the Stark family, the nobility in the north of Westeros. She starts off as a very naive young girl who loves fairy tales and dreams of being a proper royal lady. But as she is exposed to the political intrigues and personal manipulations unfolding all around her, she becomes a power player in her own right.

Sansa the polish is a deep shade of eggplant purple with intense gold shimmer. It's very dark, to the point that it would look almost black in some lights, if it wasn't for that gold shimmer being there to really warm up the base color. I think a rich, regal purple mixed with a healthy dose of darkness is the perfect summation of Sansa's character arc in the series so far.

The formula here is excellent. Sansa is very nearly a one-coater, although I did wind up using two coats. For me, the shimmer is what makes this polish. I love how vibrant it is and it catches the light beautifully! Zoya really does make some of the best shimmers in the business, if you ask me!


So that's about it from me today. While I love Zoya Sansa, I'm sure my fellow Twinsies will have some more creative takes on this week's theme. I can't wait to see what books everyone chose!

​

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace
Anna at Going to the Showing
Bridget at A Painted Nail

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

​Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision​