OPI Rock Goddess Preview

OPI's Halloween offering this year is a set of four new minis. I saw this set in-person for the first time yesterday, so if you like the look of it, you might be able to find it at your favorite polish place already!

 

L to R: Yellopalooza, Stand In Lime For Days, Rolling Bones, The Drummer's Hot

I am not a fan of minis, so I didn't pick this up, but it is a fun set of colors that work beyond only wearing them for Halloween. Rolling Bones in particular had a very beautiful, multi-faceted shimmer to it that doesn't come across in this preview shot. To me, that is the stand out from this set. The rest are nice, but don't look nearly as unique. 

Will you be channeling your inner rock goddess with this set or is it a pass for you?

Review: Lush Handy Gurugu Hand Cream

There are few feelings I hate more than when my hands are all dried out. Maybe it's a weird quirk of mine, but when my hands get really dry, it bothers me to the point of distraction. I struggle with dry hands year-round (I work at a place where I have to wash/sanitize my hands pretty frequently) and with fall just around the corner, they're only going to get drier from here! Enter Lush Handy Gurugu Hand Cream to save the day--and my hands!

Handy Gurugu contains a huge variety of butters: shea butter, pumpkinseed butter, cashew butter, almond butter and peanut butter. It also has softening almond oil, soothing and moisturizing rose water and antiseptic lemon juice. Handy Gurugu was designed to be Lush's richest, most intensely nourishing hand cream and a little bit definitely goes a long way. Just a little dab spreads all the way across both my hands, making them feel soft, moisturized and protected--all without the leftover grease and residue that I encounter with some hand creams. The texture is very smooth and creamy with hydration that is both instantaneous and long-lasting.

The 100g pot it comes in may not seem like much at first, but it should last you a good while, because it doesn't take much product to feel the benefits of Handy Gurugu! I usually put this cream on before bed and the container is a perfect for keeping on the nightstand or you could pop it in your purse too.

The only thing I'm not 100% crazy about is the smell. It's sort of rose-scented with a powdery touch to it, which I find a little grandma-ish. I really love how moisturizing and luxurious it feels on my hands though, so I can live with the scent. It's not awful, just not my favorite, especially with so many other yummy Lush scents out there. :)

This is one of the nicest, most effective hand creams I've tried (The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector is another favorite). I love Handy Gurugu and will definitely re-order once I run out!

Born Pretty Dazzling Starry Magical Multicolored Shell Glitter: Review & Swatches

This polish has a rather long name, but I can sum up everything you need to know about it in just two words: "Buy me!" This is my first time trying actual polish from Born Pretty Store, one of my favorite one-stop nail shops, and let me say, it did not disappoint! If you're a fan of polishes like Essie's Shine of the Times, this is like that, but on crazy, color-changing steroids.

There is a whole line of these jaw-dropping iridescent flakies to choose from (see them all HERE). I chose #4. For $11.79, you get not only the flakie polish (which has a clear base), but a perfectly coordinated base shade too! I only have the flakie for review, but trust me when I say I think this beauty would look dazzling over just about anything! There are so many different flakie colors at play here and I'm sure you'd see more or less of certain colors depending on what you layered it over, which is always a fun experiment! Here I'm wearing one coat over Essie Bobbing For Baubles, a deep navy creme.

Pictures do this polish zero justice. Color shifts can be a tricky thing to pick up on camera (at least for me), but in person, it is so vibrant and multifaceted. I can see pink, orange, red, yellow, blue, green and teal. Even in dim indoor lighting, the different colors shift back and forth like crazy! It's seriously mesmerizing! Polish with caution, though; this is what I like to call a "car crash polish," where it can instantly steal your attention away from everything else! I have several other flakies in my stash and, gorgeous as they all are, this is the one to rule them all. If you love flakies, I'd say this is a must-have!

If you would like to order anything from the Born Pretty Store, they offer a 10% off code for all Nailed readers:

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

Ruby Wing Cinnamon Buns

I've got a beautiful, color-changing metallic shade to show you today from Ruby Wing called Cinnamon Buns! Indoors and in shade, Cinnamon Buns is a shimmering, rose-tinted shade of bronze with a gleaming yellow gold duochrome. The duochrome on this polish is very strong, which I love! There is a light cinnamon sugar scent to this polish--not too overpowering, but enough to be noticeable when your hands are near your face. I wore this manicure for several days without topcoat and found the scent faded after about a day.

The color shift on this polish is pretty dramatic. In direct sunlight, it transforms into a deep gunmetal shade with pops burgundy shimmer. Gorgeous!

Both colors are stunning, but unfortunately, there's some room for improvement with the formula. It went on pretty goopy and even with extra time between coats, it would start to glob together as I tried to apply the next layer. I recommend applying thin coats with some added downtime between layers. Ruby Wing's polishes will change colors even when worn with topcoat. Without topcoat, the shift is pretty instantaneous as soon as you hit sunlight, while with topcoat is still quick but takes a little bit longer.

Although the formula needed a little work, both shades of this polish are still absolutely stunning. I'm really impressed with how dramatically different the indoor and outdoor versions are! Which one do you like best?

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

Wet N Wild 24 Carats

I'm making a real effort to work through my untrieds and sometimes this means coming across polishes that have sat unused for a shamefully long time. This is the case of Wet N Wild 24 Carats, a clear polish with gold microglitter and gold and orange bar glitter that was originally released as part of the Ice Baby Collection, all the way back in the winter of 2011. I usually have terrible luck finding the limited edition Wet N Wild displays at my local drugstores, but this was one rare instance where I was fortunate enough to stumble across one.

Here's one coat of 24 Carats over Adore Blushing Bride!

Wet N Wild re-released the Ice Baby polishes at Walgreens, but the new version of 24 Carats looks absolutely nothing like the original. The new 24 Carats is a sparkling gold base with orange glitter. Several of the other Ice Baby polishes appear to have been changed as well, which is really frustrating and disappointing for those who weren't able to track down these polishes (you know how WnW limited edition collections are...) the first time around. I really wish polish companies wouldn't play this name game!

Twinsie Tuesday: Shimmer Adrienne

This week's Twinsie Tuesday theme was to show a good transitional polish that bridges the gap from summer to fall. Sparkle fiend that I am, I wear glitter year-round and look for any excuse to play with some new sparklies, so glitter it was! :) For my transitional polish, I chose Shimmer Adrienne, a mix of blue, gold and silver glitter. I was trying to come up with a color that I don't tie with any particular season and one of the ones that came to mind was blue. It's a great transitional shade--whether it's bright, bold neon blue for summer or a rich sapphire for fall, it works either way. Metallics, meanwhile, are truly timeless and work for any season, so the gold and silver accents in Adrienne seemed like they would be a good fit too.

Blue and orange is one of my all-time favorite color combinations, so I used Pure Nail Lacquer Fiesta, an orange creme, for my base. Plus, depending on the time of year, orange can either make me think or citrus or fall leaves and pumpkins!

I suppose technically this is a transitional combo rather than a single polish--although Adrienne can be built up so that it is opaque enough to wear alone--but I really like these two together! Hopefully it isn't considered cheating to pick two. :p I came really close to choosing a red for this challenge, because you can never go wrong with reds, but I'm thrilled with how this combination turned out.

Do you take the season into consideration when you pick your polish or do you wear whatever you want year-round? I mostly pick based off what I'm feeling that day, although I do tend to gravitate more toward, say, pastels in spring and jewel tones in winter than I might during other times of year. Be sure to take a look at what my Twinsies picked for their transitional polishes today!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Heather at Peace, Love, & Polish

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Traci at DrinkCitra

China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze Preview

 We've already seen what OPI and Essie have on deck for the holidays, so now it's time to check in with China Glaze! China Glaze's Happy HoliGlaze Collection will feature a dozen new polishes in a variety of finishes and of course, CG's trademark holiday giftsets are back again too. Check it out--and be ready for a lot of pictures!

 

Just Be-Claws

 

Santa Red My List

 

Be Merry, Be Bright

 

Mingle With Kringle

 

So Blue Without You

 

Bells Will Be Blinging

 

There's Snow One Like You (textured finish)

 

Elfin' Around

 

Put A Bow On It

 

All Wrapped Up

 

Your Present Required

 

This Is Tree-mendous

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sources:  1 & 2

The collection launches in October. Which ones do you hope will find their way into your stocking?