Dazzle Dry - Nail Stories "Blue Fantasy" Collaboration Shade and Mystery Winter 2013 Collection

Hi everyone! Today's post is really special to me as I've had to keep it a secret since early summer. But it's finally being launched today and time to share with you that I've been chosen as one of the bloggers for Dazzle Dry's Winter 2013 Collaboration project. I also have swatches of the other polishes in the collection and which blogger created which shade.

About the polish:
When I was first approached by Dazzle Dry, I was really flattered to be chosen as one of the 5 bloggers to create a shade. It didn't take me long to decide on an electric blue as it's obviously one of my favourite colours.
However, I wanted to add a little extra something to it and it wasn't until my husband showed me some galaxy pictures which he obsesses over in his free time that I saw some amazing colour combos and it struck me! I wanted a vivid blue with small particles of pink shimmer swirling across the entire nail.

Without further ado, here are the beautiful shades the other ladies created:

Artic Sunset by Anutka from wackylaki. A striking white with silver/gold shifting shimmer.

Tiger Lily - a hot pink packed with iridescent shimmer that shifts beautifully. By Jen from The Nail Polish Project.

Moxie - a deep purple based multichrome. It shifts from copper to fuchsia to gold depending on the lighting. By Robin Moses

Feisty - a deep burgundy with pink and silver shimmer. By Rina from Simply Rins.

Dragonfly - a dark forest green shimmer/ foil polish. The duochrome in this one is gorgeous as well, it shifts from teal to gold.

The majority of these polish dry slightly matte because of Dazzle's Dry's super quick dry and Vegan formulas but the colours really come alive with a topcoat!

Availability:
The Dazzle Dry Winter 2013 Collection will be available to purchase from their website www.dazzledry.com or www.dazzledry.co.uk for UK buyers.

*The products featured in this post were sent to me for review.

NOPI - Selena Polka Dots & Bows

Today I'm sporting some polka dots and bows on my nails, a cute combo I can never resist. I used Nicole by OPI  - Selena from the Spring 2013 Selena Gomez collection as a base. It's a very pretty peachy pink, exactly the type of colour I'd go for. The only thing letting this polish down is the formula. I found it to be very streaky and I needed 3 coats to cover up patches, I don't know if that was just my bottle.

The bow is made up of black and silver loose pieces of hex glitter and for the polka dots I used Barry M Black and a doting tool.

Here are the other Selena Gomez collection polishes I received. More manis to follow:

 

Nicole by OPI polishes are now available at Superdrug stores nationwide and retail for £7.99.

For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com, follow on twitter @NicoleByOPI and become a Facebook fan.

 

Polished by KPT - Plumeria and Fluorescein

Today I have two more Polished by KPT polishes to share with you. A thermal and a bright neon glow polish. Let's get right into the swatches!

Plumeria is a pink holographic thermal. It shifts from a very light baby pink, almost a clear silvery colour when warm, to a bright berry pink when cold. You can see how it transitions in the photos below. This is 3 coats on it's own.

Fluorescein is a neon green jelly packed with scattered holo that glows under UV light. It's a little on the sheer side, the pictures are 2 coats and there is still vnl. You would probably need 3 coats or to wear undies for full coverage.

You can purchase Polished by KPT directly from Katherine's Big Cartel website, (US & Canada shipping) but they are now also available at Shoppe Eclectic and Harlow & Co. In addition to polish, Katherine also sells beautiful polish jewellery.

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

piCture pOlish - Shocked

Hi guys!

Can you believe it's 1st September already? Summer is almost over although I am told that we are to expect a few more days of heat over here. Holding onto high temperatures as much as I can although I'm excited that Autumn is just around the corner.

Today I have another piCture pOlish collaboration shade to show you - Shocked. This vibrant pink jelly with scattered holographic particles was in collaboration with Shatter me Claire. Due to it's jelly nature, you will need 3 coats for full coverage but the formula is flawless as we've come to expect from piCture pOlish.

Oh yes! And as you have most probably noticed, I filed my nails back to squares. Although I like ovals/ almond shape, they're just not me. I think squares suit me much more.

Yet another amazing piCture pOlish/ blogger creation! I just love that scattered holo in there!

 piCture pOlish can be purchased directly from their website - picturepolish.com.au. They do international shipping. You can also purchase it at various etailers throughout the world. Check out their Network page for more info. You can keep updated on any piCture pOlish news via their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

Shimmer Polish - Karen

It's been a while since I've worn a Shimmer Polish. I still have a few left to try out and some of the darker glitters I have coming up will be perfect for Fall.

Today I'm wearing "Karen". A purple and pink glitter bomb with some additional scattered orange, blue and silver glitter. I layered one coat of Karen over La Femme Angel which is a vivid pink with purple undertones and compliments the colours in the Shimmer Polish nicely.

Shimmer Polish are very dense glitters and can be worn on their own if you apply 2/3 coats.

You can purchase Shimmer Polish directly from Cindy's Etsy store. There are also lots of beautiful swatches and product information on their website and Facebook page.

*Some of the products featured  in this post were sent to me for review.

  

Polished by KPT - Glow The Blues Away

Today I have another creation from Katherine at Polished by KPT to share with you. This pink is so bright and vibrant that I had to wear it before the summer here ends.

Glow the Blues Away is a super saturated pink jelly packed with scattered holo glitter. It glows in the dark too but I don't have one of those black UV lights to show you. This is two coats but I would recommend three for complete opacity. Definitely one of my summer favourites!

You can purchase Polished by KPT directly from their website, (US & Canada shipping) but they are now also available at Shoppe Eclectic and Harlow & Co.

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

piCture pOlish - Candy

Finally the day has arrived! I'm going off on holiday tomorrow and I'm super excited! Although it's been really warm in London recently, I really need a holiday in a place with some sea and sand.

Before I go, I will leave you with one of my favourite piCture pOlish lacquers - Candy! This colour really surprised me because it just looked like a standard barbie pink in the bottle but once I put it on my nails, it really popped. Some pinks really don't go well with my skin tone but I absolutely adore how this one looks on me. It makes my hands look really tan too, or it may have just been the lighting that day!

This is 2 coats of Candy with some nude leopard on the accent nail:

 

 

piCture pOlish can be purchased directly from their website - picturepolish.com.au. They do international shipping. You can also purchase it at various etailers throughout the world. Check out their Network page for more info. You can keep updated on any piCture pOlish news via their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

2true Pro - Metallica, Salon Shine & 3D Candy

2true Cosmetics and Make-up have recently launched their new range of nail polish, 2true Pro which has 3 parts to it - Edgy (which are a set of 4 caviar beads), Classic (a set of 5 cremes/ crellies) and Metallica (5 metallic polishes).

Today I'm reviewing a little bit of each collection. First up, the metallics. Although I'm not a massive fan of metallic polishes, the good thing about these is that they are completely opaque in one coat. I couldn't imagine having to apply two or more coats of a metallic polish.

Aphrodite - a medium rose pink - 1 coat

Arete - a light lime green - 1 coat

Athena and Noir beads - a dusty blue and black beads - 1 coat

If you read my blog, you will know that I was never into the caviar/ bead/ sprinkles (whatever you want to call them) craze. It was just one of those trends that I didn't get and didn't appeal to me, plus I even had some trouble applying them. They aren't durable and would annoy me every time one fell. I know you can put a top coat over them but I think that makes them look lumpier and they end up falling off anyway! Great look for a nail photo shoot though!

Next up is a polish from the "Classic" collection - Mila. I have to say that this is my favourite of the bunch! I love this shade of orange as all my other oranges have too much red in them. This one actually looks quite coral'ish in person. It applies beautifully in 2 smooth coats.

2true polishes are available now exclusively at Superdrug stores nationwide. They cost £4 each and the beads cost £3.

*The product(s) featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

Dazzle Dry - 3 Pastel Sponging Mani

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. We finally have some sun in the UK, warm enough for me to actually wear dresses and sandals! Oh the little things!!!

Today I have somewhat of a random mani to show you. I say random because when I started, I really wasn't sure where I was going with it but it turned into some sort of pastel sponging affair.

I used 3 Dazzle Dry polishes, all from their Spring 2013 Afternoon Tea collection (Petit Four, Strawberry Maracon and Spearmint Tea). I have already reviewed Petit Four and their Quick Dry Nail System here if you want to read up on that. They do the most amazing quick dry top coat!
I topped everything off with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust which I would layer pretty much over anything if I could!

You can purchase Dazzle Dry directly from their US and UK websites. You can also see various swatches and manis on their Facebook page.

*The product(s) featured  in this post was sent to me for review.

Jacava - Pink Whisper and Candy Floss

A few months ago, I introduced you to a British polish brand called Jacava. They are '8 free' (free from DBP, Camphor, Formaldehyde, Toluene, Collophane, Parabens, Phthalates and Animal Ingredients) and of course they are also Cruelty Free.

As I mentioned in my previous post about Jacava polishes, their formulas are brilliant to work with. Being free from all the above nasties doesn't seem to impact their formulas whatsoever. They are still long lasting and amazingly opaque.

For this mani I chose Pink Whisper, a very subtle light pink, the kind you would use as a base for a French mani but also great on it's own as a palate cleanser. I added some slanted french tips with Candy Floss, a bright berry pink and ran some silver striping tape along the connecting lines.

I also love Pink Whisper on it's own. It makes nails look so sophisticated! The reason I don't wear more sheer pinks like this is because my tips are always stained from the amount of times I change my polish!

You can purchase Jacava directly from their website - http://www.jacava.com/. and they also sell through Feel Unique.

Don't forget to check out their Facebook page for amazing swatches and manis from other girls as well as competitions and promotions.

*The product(s) in this post was provided for review purposes 

Pink & Nude Gradient With A Sprinkle of Fairy Dust

As I'm currently testing out the durability of some polishes I've received this week, so here is something I did a couple of months ago but just left sitting in my unpublished folder.
I'm not as good at gradients as some of the other girls, I always have trouble blending the colours properly and they cause me such a headache. Not to mention that they are super messy and I spend ages cleaning up! I like the way this one turned out though! The colours I used were inspired by my Instagram friend (@cassgooner). If you have IG, check out her awesome designs!

I started off with a coat of ELF Desert Haze which I also used for the gradient along with Andreia No.109 which is actually a very vibrant pink neon but it turned into a medium pink on the nail. Probably because it's a jelly and also because it's sitting over another polish! The side positioned leopard was done with the smallest edge of a dotting tool and I topped everything off with China Glaze Fairy Dust.

I wish doing gradients wasn't so messy because they make for really pretty manicures!

Isn't Fairy Dust pretty?

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Zoya Micky & Tinsley (Summer 2013 Stunning & Irresistible Collection)

I was recently contacted by the Zoya UK distributors and asked if I would like to review a couple of their polishes from the recent Stunning & Irresistible Summer 2013 Collection. Of course I jumped at the opportunity. I love that Zoya is 5-free, their formulas are great and they have such a lovely and extensive range of shades.

The colours I'm sharing with you today are Micky (Stunning) and Tinsley (Irresistible).

Mickey (2 coats) is a vibrant coral pink with a slight shimmer to it only visible in direct sunlight. Formula wise, it's a little bit streaky and goopy which I didn't expect of a creme. However, three coats and careful application would sort out the streakiness.

Tinsley (2 coats) is a rosey gold foil like shimmer. I'm, so glad they sent me this colour from the Irresistible collection, it's my favourite. The formula is a bit on the thin side but still gives great coverage in two coats.

What are your favourites from the Stunning and Irresistible collections?

Ladies in the UK can buy Zoya polish from www.zoyapolish.co.uk. It retails for £10.50. You can also keep updated via their twitter page.

*The product featured  in this post was sent to me for review.