Twinsie Tuesday: Monochrome Nails

When I picture a monochromatic manicure, the first thing that comes to mind is all-white nails. So that's what I did! :) Somewhat ironically, I used two polishes to create this monochrome look. I started with Barielle Enduring, a white creme from their new keratin-infused Prosina line. Then to make my nails extra squishy-looking, I layered Essie Marshmallow, a white jelly, over top.

It's a simple look, but I thought the mix of jelly and creme finishes gave a little extra visual interest.
Please excuse the bits of bubbling. I need a new bottle of topcoat!

Not too much more I can say about this one--like I said, it's pretty simple, but I think it fits the theme.

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Disclosure: The Barielle polish in this post was provided for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Barielle Mirror, Mirror Collection: Review & Swatches

Hey guys! Today I've got some swatches from Barielle's fall/winter collection, which is called Mirror, Mirror. This is a set of five cremes with some nice shades to bridge the fall-to-winter transitional months. (That may seem far off now, but trust me, it's coming!!) Anywho, let's take a look at 'em!

Feathered Slippers is a dark grey creme. It almost looks like it has a bit of green in it...? Not sure if that's just my imagination, but I dig it. Do you see the green or am I nuts?

Pretty Woman is far and away my favorite shade from this set! My bottle actually says "Pretty Women," but Barielle's website and the little promotional booklet for the collection both say "Woman," so I'm guessing that's just a typo. But whatever it's actually called, it's a very rich shade of Prussian blue. I love how elegant it looks on the nail.

Blushing Beauty is a bright red jelly. It's a very pretty representation of this type of color, even if it's not too unique. Look how squishy and shiny it is--and this is without top coat even!

Ribbon & Lace is a dusty teal creme. This is a perfect example of an autumn-tinged teal. It's got just the right amount of duskiness to it, if that makes sense to anyone other than me!

Silk Stockings was a surprise favorite. It's a nude--and one that I didn't think would go very well with my undertones, at that--but once I put it on, I really liked the taupe-y color it was on my nails. It doesn't go on as dark as it looks in the bottle and it isn't too cool-toned, so I think lots of different skin tones could rock this one.

All of these are two-coaters with nice formulas. No issues to report here--just nice, creamy application!

If you get one shade from this collection, make it Pretty Woman. There is something so chic about that color to me and it netted me quite a few compliments. :) I've got a lot of blue polish and this one is definitely shooting up my list of favorites!

You can purchase Barielle from their website. What's your favorite shade from Mirror, Mirror?


Disclosure: These polishes were sent for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Jamberry Accent Nails: Review & Swatches

I've got a couple different manis to share with you guys today, all of them incorporating Jamberry nail appliques. Nine times out of ten, if I'm wearing nail wraps and someone comments on them, they will ask me if they're Jamberry, so they seem to be pretty well known. But if you're not familiar with Jamberry, they're kinda different from other nail wraps, so here's a quick crash course for you!

Jamberry is sold through individual consultants. This time around, mine was Maureen. She was super sweet and willing to help troubleshoot if I had any questions or application issues. Consultants offer their appliques through their own websites, which feature a TON of designs. Click HERE if you want to check out Maureen's.

The biggest difference between Jamberry and other nail wraps in that you have to heat the appliques.  After you peel them off the sheet, you have to expose them to heat for 3-5 seconds to make them more flexible. I always use my blow dryer and that works perfectly. Next, apply the wrap to your nail, trim and file the excess, then hit them with a little heat again to fully bond the wraps to the nail.

These are a little more time consuming to apply than traditional wraps, since you have to involve a heat source, but I've found them to be extremely sturdy on the nail so taking a little extra time with them typically equates to long, worry-free wear. I also like that if you get a crease or a bubble when applying, you can smooth it out with a little patience and an extra blast from the blow dryer. To remove, soak them in acetone for 30 seconds to break down the adhesive, then gently peel them off.

Maureen sent me a selection of different Jamberry accent nails to play around with. These little sheets feature six different wraps, each with a different design, so that you can see what patterns you like and get a feel for how Jamberry wears and applies. I'm obsessed with nail wraps, but I've never tried them as accent nails. Here's a couple quick and easy combinations I came up with using these designs!

Grey: Barielle Feathered Slippers

Green: Essie Chillato

Red: Barielle Blushing Beauty

There's a bit of a learning curve with Jamberry, but I've found I can get the hang of it pretty quickly. It's been a while since I used any Jamberry wraps, so my first attempt (the flower wrap with Barielle Feathered Slippers) wasn't perfectly smooth, but this was due to user error rather than a flaw with the product. After that though, I got back in the groove and didn't have any issues applying the rest of the wraps.

My favorite of these was the overlay wrap I wore over Essie Chillato. I believe the name of this design is Island Energy. It adhered really well to the polish already on my nail and added a fun bit of depth to my existing manicure.

Have you tried anything from Jamberry before? I'd love to hear how what your experience with them was like in the comments!


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

Barielle Glitter Mania Collection: Review & Swatches

Fellow glitter groupies, you've come to the right place, because today I've got five awesome new glitters from the Barielle Glitter Mania Collection to show you!

Up first we have Orange Flame, a clear base with medium metallic orange hexes. This one's really eye-catching and pops especially well over darker bases. This is one coat over OPI Road House Blues.

 

Confetti has medium matte hexes in a variety of colors: off-white, grey, black, blue and magenta. I have to say, I got a ton of compliments on this mani! Even strangers would comment on it and it seemed like everyone wanted to know "how I did it," so it was cool to be able to tell them it was just a glitter topper. My co-workers said my nails looked like a little garden. :) This is one coat of Confetti over Butter London Slapper. (As an aside, this is probably the closest I've ever come to a color-accurate photo of Slapper, which is a serious pain in the ass to capture on camera.)

Mermaid Fin is a mix of pastel blue hexes and silver holo micro-glitter. This is one of my favorites from the collection! It's very unique and that extra touch of sparkle from the holo is everything! Here's one coat over OPI I Vant To Be A-Lone Star.

Princess Pink is a mix of small and medium metallic pink hexes. This is sooo cute! I have to admit I wasn't too intrigued by it in the bottle, but it's so shamelessly girly on the nails that I couldn't help but love it. I thought it'd be fun to do a pink-on-pink layering for this one, so here is one coat over one of my very favorite pink cremes, Essie French Affair.

Gemstones is probably the most complex glitter of the bunch. It's got steel grey microglitter with small purple hexes and medium silver holo hexes. To give you a really obscure polish reference, this reminds me of a less opaque version of Studio M Firecracker. This is one coat over Essie Spun In Luxe.

Overall, this is a really solid collection. The formulas are all wonderful and as for the polishes themselves, I don't think there's a single clunker in the bunch! My favorites are Confetti and Mermaid Fin. What about you? :)

You can purchase Barielle from their website.


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

Lumina Lacquer Triforce

The Legend of Zelda. Indie polish. Glitter. Put 'em together and I just gotta have it. Lumina Lacquer Triforce, named for the mythical relic from the LoZ video game series, is a holographic gold glitterbomb with hexes, hearts, stars, circles and triangles in a clear base. I've paired it with Barielle Rain In Spain, a periwinkle creme, for this mani.

The formula has a nice consistency to it and is easy to spread across the nail, although I do recommend turning the bottle upside down for a minute or two before applying Triforce. The larger glitter pieces tend to settle toward the bottom of the bottle, so they need a little extra help to get them to surface. After that, you can easily get a ton of them on your brush.

Triforce is so much fun and I think it would look great over virtually any color. But I especially love how it looks over a pastel like Rain In Spain. If you're a gold lover, then you need Triforce in your collection!

You can purchase Lumina Lacquer from their website.

Barielle Jetsetter Collection: Review & Swatches

I hate that the holiday season seems to start earlier and earlier every year. It doesn't give us enough time to enjoy fall! Fall used to be my least favorite season when I was younger (thanks, allergies) but now that I'm older, I love sweater weather, warm drinks, fall-scented candles...and of course, fall nail colors! Today I've got an extra special fall collection to show you: Barielle's Jetsetter Collection! Without any further ado, let's take a look.

First up is Kiss Me Kate, a putty creme. I love me a good putty polish and this is such a perfect one. It's nice and clean but with just a hint of grunge to it. This is two coats.

Autumn in Seoul is a rich brown with intense copper shimmer; in fact, it almost looks like a foil. I'm super picky about browns but this was a standout from the collection for me. I love the deep base color and the sparkle is phenomenal. You do have to be a bit mindful of brushstrokes with this one, but otherwise the formula is wonderful. I used two coats here.

A deep midnight blue shimmer, Midnight In Paris is appropriately named. This is a stunning jewel tone that brings to mind all-time classics like OPI Russian Navy. It's dark and rich without looking near-black and the shimmer adds a lot of life to this shade. Midnight In Paris definitely has a potential for staining, so don't skip the basecoat and be careful with your cuticles. This is two coats.

Irish Eyes is a mossy green creme. Love, love, LOVE this polish! It is perfection from top to bottom: utterly gorgeous color and a one-coater, to boot. Irish Eyes is easily my favorite Jetsetter shade.

The other green in the collection is Gondola Ride, a dusty sage creme. It's a dusty green, so y'all know I'm gonna be all about this color! Unfortunately it's got the most problematic formula in the collection. It's not even bad, just "eh," whereas the others are all pretty stinkin' fantastic. It's kinda runny and took three coats to build up to opacity.

Then to close things out, we have Rain In Spain, a periwinkle creme. This is a bit of an unexpected color for a fall collection, but I dig it. The formula is ultra-buttery and almost a one-coater. I used two just to level everything out.

This is one of my favorite collections Barielle has done! There's not a single bad shade in the bunch, but my favorites are Irish Eyes, Autumn In Seoul and Gondola Ride. You can purchase the Jetsetter Collection from Barielle's website.


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

Twinsie Tuesday: Deborah Lippmann Yellow Brick Road

Choosing your least favorite polish is a tall order. I don't know if Deborah Lippmann Yellow Brick Road is my absolute least favorite, but it's up there. On paper, this polish has potential: a squishy, shiny canary yellow jelly. But throw in a crappy, super sheer formula and the fact that warm yellows tend to look terrible on my pale skin and this is what you get... Enjoy!

Yep, it looks like baby barf--and not even in an ugly-pretty kinda way, which I'm all about. It's just...well, ugly. I think Yellow Brick Road would look nicer on someone with darker skin, but sadly, the formula is unforgivably awful. It is painfully sheer, even for a jelly. It is literally impossible to build this polish up to opacity on its own--I've tried! But for how sheer it is, it's also ridiculously thick. You have to leave ample dry time between layers, otherwise you wind up with a goopy, lumpy mess.

I learned my lesson from the last time I wore this polish and not only gave myself plenty of time between coats, but also used Barielle's Natural Nail Camouflage as my base coat. Even with two coats of Nail Camouflage, it took four coats of Yellow Brick Road to get what you see here, which is still not completely opaque!

End rant. There you have it: my least favorite polish--or at least, one that deserves a very dishonorable mention. Don't shell out the big bucks for this one!

​

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​

Barielle Me Couture Collection: Review & Swatches

Hey guys! I hope your Friday is off to a good start. :) To help kick off the weekend, I've got some swatches of Barielle's fall collection, Me Couture, to share with you today! Let's get started, shall we?

Moda Bleu is a navy creme with a beautiful high-gloss shine, even without topcoat. There's a little bit of purple in there at first, but it goes away as you layer the coats. It's a very deep, inky shade that's dark without appearing black. This is three coats.

Taupe Notch is a cool-toned taupe creme. It's almost grey, actually, but I'd still call it taupe. This is a wonderful neutral that would flatter any skin tone. If you're a taupe lover, definitely check this one out, 'cause it's pretty darn perfect. This is two coats.

Berry Posh is a glossy magenta creme. This is another one that, like Moda Bleu, is nice and shiny! I used two coats here.

Vintage Gown is a creamy milk chocolate with a bit of a pink undertone to it. There's some delicious-looking bronze shimmer visible in the bottle, but it's really subtle on the nail, which is a bummer. The base color is pretty enough (reminds me of hot cocoa!) that I still like this polish, but I would looooooveee it if that shimmer came through more!

 Here's the shimmer in the bottle:

Soho At Night is a dusty eggplant purple. Ya gotta get a little grimey with a fall collection! I absolutely love this color; so perfect for fall. The first coat is a little watery, but it everything comes together nicely by the second coat.

I saved the best for last! Boho Chic is a deep emerald green. It's a true dark green--not near-black--that is so rich and creamy. I can totally see myself rocking this with an animal print dress and some tights! This is two coats.

So all and all, there are some awesome fall colors here! My personal favorities are Soho At Night, Taupe Notch and Boho Chic. Out of all six polishes in the collection, there's not a dud formula in the bunch. Every one has a very workable consistency that's a breeze to apply. I'm impressed!

You can purchase Barielle from their website. Do you see anything you like from this collection? What are your favorite fall polish colors?


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

Twinsie Tuesday: OPI Muppets World Tour

EDIT: So I accidentally posted this last Tuesday, before it was time. So now that we're actually on the right week, let's give this another try!

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a huge procrastinator. So this week's Twinsie Tuesday theme, "I've been meaning to...", was difficult for me because I had too freakin' much to choose from. I've always got about a thousand things I want to put on my nails, whether it's design ideas or making a dent in my shamefully huge amount of untrieds.

But when I sat down and really thought about what I've been meaning to wear on my nails lately, one thing jumped out at me: "Dammit, Chelsea, you need to wear OPI Muppets World Tour already!" You see, I keep most of my untrieds in their own drawer but I do have a smaller group of untrieds I store in a little bin on my polish table. These are usually newer polishes or ones that I'm especially excited to wear soon. Muppets World Tour has been in this bin forever. Whenever I see it, I always think, "Oh yeah, I'll wear that next time" and then put on some other polish that's captured my attention at the moment.

So now here we are, months after both the Muppets collection and movie have come and gone and I still haven't tried on this poor polish. It's really a shame, because she's a stunner: a white quartz glitter with a rainbow of hexes and sprinklings of silver throughout. Here's two coats over a few layers of Barielle's Natural Nail Camouflage.

Isn't it gorgeous? I love that it's very delicate and soft-looking, but still has plenty of color and whimsy to it. I absolutely adore this glitter and I'm bummed I didn't wear it sooner!

What's something you've been meaning to try with your nails? I know I can't be the only procrastinator out there! ;)

​

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​

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​

Barielle Miami Heat

Barielle Miami Heat is a rich tomato red jelly. I posted some pictures of this polish as a base for some water decals a while back, so I figured I ought to showcase it on its own too! The color and the finish together remind me of red cellophane candy wrappers. :)

The formula is wonderful and very easy to work with. I used two coats here. I still had a smidge of VNL, but not enough to where I was bothered by it.

Miami Heat has a fairly neutral undertone--not too blue, not too orange, but if anything, it's more warm-toned. Still, this is a red that should look good on anyone!


Disclosure: This polish was provided to me for my honest review.

Barielle Paradise In The Tropics

Barielle Paradise In The Tropics is a juicy raspberry creme from their summer Keys Collection. One of the things I love most about Barielle's cremes is how ridiculously shiny and glossy they are. Paradise In The Tropics is a perfect example of that.

Sorry about the black smudge on my index finger. I'm not actually sure what that is or how it got there... :-/  Anyways, I'm getting off-topic! Even without topcoat, which is how I swatched it here, (I used it as a base for Lumina Lacquer Free Spirit), Paradise In The Tropics has a beautiful sheen to it. I've noticed that a lot of times when I'm wearing a Barielle manicure out and about, people will ask me if I got a gel mani done--that's how shiny their polishes are!

Aside from the beautiful finish, the actual polish is lovely as well. This is a shade that strikes the perfect balance between red and pink. It's a classic color that you could easily wear year-round.

You can purchase Barielle from their website.


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