Madam Glam Color-Changing Gel Polish in Hot Hot Hot

I've been hardcore crushing on Hot Hot Hot after seeing it on Amber from Nails Like Lace, so when Madam Glam reached out to ask if I'd like to try some of their gel polishes, this one was at the tippy top of my wish list! It's been a while since I did some gel nails, but I was feeling the itch again. It's nice to mix it up every now and then and I love how invincible my nails feel with gel polish on--no worrying about chips or cracks!

Hot Hot Hot is a very unique shade: a thermal polish that goes from a poppy red shade to a warm orange when you expose it to heat. And the best part? It's got lots of silver glitter in it too! Because everything is better with extra sparkle!

Here's how the polish looks normally...

...and then here's what it changes to with heat. Please excuse the complete change in lighting here. I took these pictures at my bathroom sink so I could photograph my hands fresh out of warm water.

 

 

For the sake of completion, I wanted to throw in a shot of Hot Hot Hot mid-change too.

I could not stop staring at this polish. It's so much fun and I can't help but feel a teensy bit happier when I look at it. It's like a little dose of summer on my nails in the midst of all this terrible wind and snow.

I paired this shade with all Red Carpet Manicure products (base coat, top coat, lamp, etc.) and it worked great. I applied two coats of Hot Hot Hot for this mani. I was definitely impressed with how it went on. Gel polishes in general have thicker consistencies, but this one was still nice and workable. It even self-levels, which is super helpful when you're dealing with gels, as the thickness can sometimes result in bumpy, uneven application.

You can purchase Madam Glam from their website.


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

Lynnderella New Year's Eve Eve

It wouldn't be a New Year's mani without glitter and I figure there's no better choice than Lynderella New Year's Eve Eve! This is a rainbow explosion of glitter in all shapes and sizes that brings to mind the gallons of confetti that will be falling in Times Square tonight.

I layered two coats over Wet N Wild Break The Ice, a pearly white shimmer. I thought it was the perfect base because it lets the colorful glitters stand out while still adding some sparkle of its own.

New Year's Eve Eve didn't have any notable formula issues. Like any glitter polish of this type, you'll get some large pieces that need to be guided away from the free edge of the nail, but otherwise this has a nice 'n easy formula.

I absolutely love this mani and how it looks like a little party on my nails! A big thanks to my buddy (and one-time Twinsie Tuesday member) Tara for gifting it to me!

What's on your nails tonight? Any fun New Year's plans? I'm eating tacos and watching "Archer" with my boyfriend. My kind of night. :)

Twinsie Tuesday: Holiday Mani

The Twinsie Tuesday girls are checking in from our seasonal hiatus to bring you some holiday manis! This time of year is crazy for all of us, but we wanted to do at least one post for December.

For my mani, I went with my favorite holiday color combo of red and gold. Plus since it's the holidays, you know I gotta bring some extra sparkle. So I took the red and white glitterbomb goodness of Lumina Lacquer Candy Cane Lane and layered it over my favorite gold polish, OPI Glitzerland. Candy Cane Lane is such a great polish and I couldn't let the holiday season pass without wearing it at least once. Seriously, who can resist a polish with candy cane-shaped glitter?!

I plan to post again before Christmas but I wanted to take the opportunity to wish all of you a safe and happy holiday season. I hope whatever your plans are and whichever holidays you celebrate, that you feel happy and loved.

                        

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

Nubar Holiday Gala Collection: Review & Swatches

Hey guys! I wanted to start the weekend off right with some holiday swatches for you, so today we'll be checking out Nubar's Holiday Gala Collection! We've got four sparklies to talk about, so let's get to it.

Violet Sparkle is a violet glitterbomb. I like wearing polishes like this alone for a full-on glitter explosion, so I layered Violet Sparkle up to full opacity with four coats. Again, sorry for the cuts on my index finger. Most of these swatches were taken when the cuts were still healing. :-/

Petunia Sparkle is a magenta version of Violet Sparkle. I got soooo many compliments on this one. When the girl working the drive-thru window asks to see your nails, you know it's good. ;) This is four coats again.

Red Ruby Glitz is a classic holiday red shimmer, very much in the vein of China Glaze Ruby Pumps. Since this has a tinted base, it's much more opaque than the previous two glitters and only needed two coats.

The last polish is my favorite of the collection: Celebration Sparkles! This has rainbow hex and micro glitters. This is such a fun polish and would be perfect for a New Year's party! This is two coats over Sally Hansen Celeb City, a silver foil.

You can purchase the Holiday Gala Collection on Nubar's website. Which shade is your favorite? Do you have a holiday nail look planned out yet?


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

Twinsie Tuesday: China Glaze Velvet Bow

We're doing nails inspired by our favorite movie this week! I dunno if I have a single all-time favorite, but if we're talking movies I love, Pulp Fiction is certainly up there.

In addition to being an awesome movie, Pulp Fiction also has an interesting place in nail polish history. The polish Uma Thurman wears in the movie, Chanel Vamp, was widely featured and discussed in beauty magazines. Vamp's rich, chocolate-y shade of burgundy was a trendsetting color at the time and perfectly fit the edgy style of Uma's character in the film, which was a huge hit. As a result, Vamp became an instant sellout and highly sought after by polish aficionados.

Vamp still exists in Chanel's polish line-up today, although the color itself has changed to include shimmer. (The classic Vamp color is now called Rouge Noir.) But I've got a good dupe for the original Vamp in China Glaze Velvet Bow, which was part of a Christmas collection a few years back.

The formula is a little sheer for such a dark color. I needed three coats for total opacity. This is a color where you want to be careful with your edges, because cleaning dark red out of your cuticles is a bitch and a half.

So yeah, nothing super fancy from me this week, but hopefully you enjoyed this little look back at polish history! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else did this week--and hopefully I'll get some good film recommendations in the process!

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Lisa at The Polish Playground

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Claire at Kerruticles

​ ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Halloween Nails With Lumina Lacquer Mick Or Treat

I didn't pick up any new Halloween polishes this year, so I decided to wear an old favorite: Lumina Lacquer Mick or Treat! It's a super fun glitterbomb with fall-colored glitters--think red, grey, orange, black and yellow--in all shapes and sizes. You've got hexes, squares, stars, circles, crescent moons and, the extra special cherry on top: Mickey Mouse-shaped glitters!

I wore Mick Or Treat over a deep burgundy in my original review, so this time I used OPI Take The Stage for my base. Above is one coat of Mick Or Treat. You have to really fish for the Mickey glitters (I only got one with this mani), but they are worth it!

Mick Or Treat was limited edition, so unfortunately it's no longer available. Lumina in general doesn't seem to produce new collections anymore. They were one of my favorite indie brands and I really miss having new Lumina's to look forward to!

a-England Gloriana

A-England Gloriana is a warm-toned red foil with bright gold flakes. This came out in last year's Elizabeth & Mary Collection, inspired by Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary of England's Tudor Dynasty. A-England is one of those brands that I wouldn't feel foolish owning every polish they've ever made. I love the colors themselves and you can really feel the amount of care and thought put into each shade.

The burnished red base of Gloriana is stunning enough in its own right, but when you add on those gleaming bits of gold, then you've got something really special! The flakes are nice and prominent too--no shifting to just the right angle or squinting to see them.

As always with a-England, the formula here is buttery smooth and richly opaque. I used two coats for this mani.

Gloriana is an absolutely perfect fall color and captures its inspiration so well. When you think of Elizabeth, aren't her firey red hair and golden jewels the first two things that come to mind? I trimmed my nails yesterday and I think I accidentaly went too far into nubbins territory, but Gloriana does make them feel a lot more elegant. :)

China Glaze Cabin Fever

This polish is magical. I can see why it took three different sightings of the CG Great Outdoors display for me to actually find this color! It's a gorgeous color-shifting shade that morphs from rusty red to bronze to green to gold. It changes to all the different colors of autumn leaves!

Natural light:

 Shade:

 Direct sunlight:

As with most duochromes, you have to conscientiously place your brushstrokes, but other than that, Cabin Fever is easy to apply. This is two coats.

I have to take my hats off to China Glaze on this one. The color shift is super strong and I love that you get so many beautiful fall colors in one polish. It takes on completely different personalities with each lighting change. If you ask me, it's not only the best polish of the Great Outdoors Collection, but the best duochrome polish from a mainstream brand in a long time. Like, remember the awesome that was the China Glaze's own New Bohemian Collection? Cabin Fever is just as good as those! Hey CG: more of this, please! :)

Twinsie Tuesday (On A Thursday): Ms. Marvel-Inspired Nails

I know, I know, I'm two days late (getting over a bad cold), but I didn't want to miss this week's theme: inspired by a favorite fictional character! I've mentioned on here many times that I'm an avid comics reader. One of my favorite books right now is Ms. Marvel. This comic received quite a bit of mainstream attention when it launched, as the heroine, Kamala Khan, is a Muslim teenager. While religion is an important part of Kamala's identity, the comic isn't about religion. It's just awesome stories of a smart, brave and somewhat awkward teenage girl trying to figure out her place in the world while kicking some major ass.

Also, there's a giant teleporting dog. If that doesn't sell you, then I dunno what will.

Seriously, it's an adorable and funny read that I can't recommend highly enough. Even if you don't normally like comics, give this one a try. The writing is very contemporary and accessible, with lovable characters and fresh storytelling.

Now, y'all know I'm not super great at nail art, so I stuck with a simple mani inspired by Kamala's costume.

                           

The blue is Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like and the red is Essie Geranium. I added in one of my Born Pretty superhero nail decals for the lightning bolt. Here's how it came out!

It's nothing fancy, but I like it just the same. Sorry it was so late, but hopefully you enjoyed it too! :) And remember to check out my fellow Twinsies' manis!

                        

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

Twinsie Tuesday: China Glaze Lubu Heels

This week, we were challenged to show off some vampy nails. I decided on China Glaze Lubu Heels, a black base with red glitter. This is like Ruby Pumps' naughty older sister. I can't honestly say I like it better than Ruby a Pumps, which is an all-time classic in my eyes, but that's not to say it's without its own charms.

This took three coats in all, mostly to build up the opacity of the black base. If you used a black creme underneath, I'm sure you'd only need one coat of Lubu Heels to achieve this kind of look.

This polish offers such a great twist on basic black! I love when the light hits it and you see those little red sparks flare up. :)

Alaina at The Little Canvas

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

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

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

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.

Twinsie Tuesday: Inspired By A Flag

The Twinsies are back after our month-long hiatus with manis inspired by a flag! I put together a couple different glitters to create a mani inspired by the US stars and stripes. I'll basically use any excuse to wear star glitter. ;) It came out looking a little too "4th of July" for fall, but for what it is, I think it's pretty cute. I'd like to revisit the idea of glitter Skittles in the future.

White nail: OPI Snow Globetrotter over LOOK Broad Stripes Bright Stars
Blue nails: China Glaze Frostbite over Lynnderella The Stars In Her Eyes...
Red nails: China Glaze Ruby Pumps

It feels good to be back! I'm looking forward to another round of fun challenges with everyone!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

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

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kristine at Pink and Polished Nails

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision