China Glaze New Bohemian Preview

Hell. Yes. That was pretty much my reaction when I first saw the preview pics for this collection. If you're as nuts about duochrome as I am, then does China Glaze have a treat for you! The New Bohemian Collection will feature six new shades in what it appears China Glaze is calling a "luster chrome" finish. I spy a potential Chanel Peridot dupe in here too!

Unpredictable

Rare and Radiant

Swanky Silk

No Plain Jane

Want My Bawdy

Deviantly Daring

No idea when these will come out this year but man, do I ever want them! UPDATE: These will have a fall release date. Here's hoping the duochrome is as prominent on the nail as it is in these preview pics.

 

What are your thoughts on this collection? China Glaze has seriously been knocking it out of the park for me lately. I can't wait for these!

Nicole By OPI A Million Sparkles

I realized the other day that it'd been a while since I wore something sparkly on my nails, so I decided to rectify that with the total glitter explosion that is Nicole by OPI A Million Sparkles. There is a lot going on in this shade. It's complex yet somehow totally cohesive. The base is clear but then you've got two types of round glitter (small blue and larger gold) and two types of bar glitter (small blue and larger holographic pink). I know the whole "party in a bottle" is a Deborah Lippmann thing, but I'd easily apply it to this polish as well. It looks like a crazy confetti blowout on your nails!

Despite how many different types of glitter are in this polish, I found opacity to be a bit of a struggle with this at first. Then I remembered that all of my NOPI holiday glitters needed a good shake before I used them and that seemed to do the trick for A Million Sparkles as well. In the end, I used three coats here. I wore A Million Sparkles alone but you could easily layer it instead and come up with some crazy combinations to add to the fun of this polish.


This is a very unique, very pretty glitter. I can't think of another one like it and got a lot of compliments on it yesterday. If you're gaga for glitter like me, this is an excellent addition to your sparkle hoarde. Fans of polishes like China Glaze Marry A Millionaire and OPI Save Me will feel right at home with A Million Sparkles. I've come around to bar glitter in a big way. I used to think it looked really weird, like pine needles or even hair on your nails. But after I gave it a try, now I can't get enough of the stuff!

Twinsie Tuesday: Zoya Shawn

This week's Twinsie Tuesday theme is a simple one but still a favorite of mine: green! Yes, in honor of St. Patrick's Day later this week, all of us are busting out some green polishes. I can totally get behind this theme, both as a green polish fanatic and someone whose heritage is majorly Irish. (My family's last name was anglicized when my ancestors immigrated to the US but originally it was O'Laughlin. If that's not Irish then I dunno what is!) I don't get very into the festivities surrounding St. Patrick's Day--I'm not much of a drinker, truth be told--but I still rock some green to show my Irish pride!


So today I've got an awesome green to share: Zoya Shawn. I'd been wanting this one for a while and finally broke down and bought it back when Zoya had their Valentine's Day promo--because nothing says romance like swamp green, am I right? Shawn is a dark olive green that leans yellow. It's got that aforementioned touch of swampiness to it too, which I just love.

I honestly cannot get enough of these types of greens so Shawn is right up my alley. The formula was very smooth and cooperative as well. I used two coats here. The pigmentation on Shawn is really nice. It's not a bright color but still very saturated, if that makes sense. It's just such a rich shade of green. Zoya are famous for their many green polishes and for good reason: Every one I've tried has been marvelous. Of course there are many more Zoya greens I would love to get my hands on still too!


Speaking of more great greens, be sure to drop by the other Twinsie Tuesday blogs to see more of one of my favorite polish colors. I'm sure I'll be adding at least one or two of their sure-to-be fabulous choices to my never-ending wishlist!

Amanda: http://amandalandish.blogspot.com/
Anna: http://goingtotheshowing.blogspot.com/
Anne: http://grapefizz.blogspot.com/
Ashley: http://artevolve.blogspot.com/
Brandi: http://thecollegiatenail.blogspot.com/
ChiChi: http://beautystarr1009.blogspot.com/
Jenn: http://allthatisgorgeous.blogspot.com/
Jenna: http://www.jennafroggy.com/
Katherine: http://hauloffame.blogspot.com/
Marisa: http://marijonails.blogspot.com/
Meredith: http://polishandcharms.blogspot.com/
Nory: http://fiercemakeupandnails.blogspot.com/
Rachel: http://topcoatit.wordpress.com/
Sarah: http://seesarahswatch.blogspot.com/

a-england St. George

I've got another a-England beauty to share today. This one is St. George, a teal holo. St. George admittedly didn't seem to have as strong of a holographic effect as the other polishes from The Legend Collection but I didn't mind too much. The base color is so rich and beautiful that it made up for the more diminished holo.

I also snapped a few shots under the hot lamp I keep on my table for when I do my nails so that you guys could see the holo in a different light.

The formula on St. George was stellar. I love how smooth these a-England holos go on--and the fact that you don't need a special basecoat for them like with Nfu Oh and some of the other specialty holos out there. The wear is great too. St. George, like the other a-England holos, does not chip easily, which linear holos can be notorious for. I bang up my hands a lot at work but this polish stayed put for two days with no signs of wear. I'm sure it would've lasted even longer but you know me: I have to change my polish constantly! This is a truly gorgeous polish and if you even remotely like teal polishes, this is worthy of a place in your stash. Another a-England polish I love--are we surprised? ;)

OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where?

OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where? is a super bright, coral-leaning red from the Holland Collection. I'm a bit odd in that I don't much care for red polish but add a hint of coral to it and I'm all over it! I'm a sucker for reds like this--OPI Cajun Shrimp, OPI Most Honourable Red, etc. Red Lights Ahead...Where? (what an awkward name to type out in a sentence--just sayin') is not just your average red polish. It's one that really demands to be noticed because it's so bright!

The formula on this is super glossy and smooth. It's virtually opaque in one but I used two just to hide a few little patches. You definitely can't miss this color once it's on your nails. It's extremely vibrant and just looks so perfectly smooth and shiny. I like this color a lot. It's a little sexy and a little summer-y, all at the same time. I think this would look excellent as a pedicure too, preferably if your toes are covered in sand, getting some sun at the beach. (I like summer weather, if you can't tell.) My all-time favorite red? Very possible.

OPI Pedal Faster Suzi!

Pedal Faster Suzi! is a baby pink glassfleck from the new Holland Collection. This is a very delicate, feminine shade. Maybe it's just the name but it reminds me a lot of little raindrops on flower petals. Even if I'm not a pink polish fanatic, I know a good pink when I see one. If OPI Sparrow Me The Drama and NOPI Kim-pletely In Love had a baby, Pedal Faster Suzi! would be it.

The formula is nice and got the job done in three coats. Although this shade is super girly, there's just a hint of grime to the pink base, which is what reminded me of the aforementioned Sparrow The Drama. I like a little bit of dirt in my pinks! It's a cute color overall and I got a couple compliments on it when I wore it to work yesterday, so that's always a nice plus.

China Glaze Foie Gras

Hey everyone! Today I've got the first of my picks from China Glaze's new Hunger Games Collection! I love the books and am extremely excited for the movie, so naturally I've been really looking forward to this collection as well.


First up is Foie Gras. This is an interesting color--kind of purple, kind of brown, kind of grey... I dunno what exactly to call it. It's not entire "greige" or "blurple" but kind of in between the two. If you're familiar with shades like China Glaze Channelesque or OPI You Don't Know Jacques then Foie Gras is very much in that family. You could probably dupe Foie Gras if you have a lot of these types of colors already. I was a bit on the fence about this color before ordering it but now that I have it, I gotta say that I love it!

The formula on Foie Gras is excellent; nice and creamy. I used two coats here. It pulls more on the brown side of things on my skintone but I could see the more dominant-looking color changing based on whoever's wearing it. This color doesn't say "spring" at all to me (the entire collection looks way more autumn-centric) but no big deal, I still love it!