Thursday, February 27, 2014

Barielle Mardi Gras Mani Contest!


Every once in a while Barielle likes to hold mani contests on their Facebook page. And this month it's Mardi Gras! Now the main colors are purple, green, and gold. Well, as this is a Barielle contest, and only Barielle products could be used, this is what I had! And I am loving how it turned out!

I added a necklace, an iconic Mardi Gras image, along with a mask with some feathers on top! Middle nail represents the chaos and fun that is Mardi Gras! Party! :)


Each finger started with two coats of Barielle My Tan Blazer (review on this soon!) and topped with Ultra Speed Manicure Extender.

Index: gradient of Green Apple and High Marks Purple with a beaded necklace of Aura Angora.
Middle: fan brush technique with Green Apple and Sexy Mood (review of this coming soon!)
Ring: fan brush of Green Apple and nail art mask decal (didn't trust myself to get it right the first time so I created the decal with polish) using High Marks Purple, Aura Angora, Green Apple, and Sexy Mood
Pinkie: gradient of Green Apple and High Marks Purple with a taped "M" of Sexy Mood.

Would love if you went on over to Barielle's Facebook Page and voted for me! and you should all enter too!

https://www.facebook.com/barielle?ref=br_tf

Mardi Gras is filled with pageantry, glamorous costumes, masks, beads & vibrant colors! Keep in mind the 3 colors that define Mardi Gras are purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power. 

So throw us your best Mardi Gras Manicure & upload your photo into our contest. The entry with the most votes by March 3rd wins a $100 coupon code to Barielle.com. We can't wait to see what y'all come up with!!! Be sure to check back often and vote for your favorites.

Some of the items in this post were sent for me to review and some were purchased by me.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Baroness of Glitter Review


So I was recently contacted by Demi of Baroness of Glitter to do some reviews of a few of her polishes. Sadly I had to put it on hold do to health reasons. I want to thank Demi for being so understanding! And for creating some really fabulous polishes! Let's take a look, shall we?

*Warning: Picture Heavy! :)


This is Aura, multichrome topcoat that shifts from green to blue to purple to magenta. This is one coat of Aura over Wet 'n Wild Black Creme. Just look at that color! I love the shimmer in this top coat!


As many of you know, capturing multichromes on camera are a bit difficult. But trust me when I say, all the colors that it's suppose to shift to are there! But let's see some more photos.

 





Aura is such a gorgeous top coat! And the formula....wow! Ah-mazing! It spread nicely and honestly I had to make sure to get all the excess polish off my brush before using it! It just really wanted to be on my nails! :)


Next up we have Tyrian Purple, one coat over Wet 'n Wild Black Creme. First off, look at her labels! Aren't they just awesome! Love! Now look at this glitter, then look at the bottle, now look at my nails, gorgeous! (I'm kidding, it just felt like an Old Spice moment there!). 

"Tyrian purple is the most expensive color since the ancient times. This is one of the beautiful and eye-popping colors. It is also known as ‘imperial purple’.

The royal color was used by emperors and kings of classical relic, including Alexander the Great, the Ptolemaic kings and the emperors of Rome.

The color is natural, and made from snail shells from the murex mollusk, a type of sea snail. It would take 250,000 murex shellfish to attain one ounce of Tyrian purple, so the dye was highly valued." source


This is just a really beautiful glitter! It has squares, hexes, and circles! Win! And I love the glowing quality of it.


Here's a back shot of the bottle so you can see the polish. It is a purple and gold glitter topper. It almost looks like deep space!


Here is one coat of Tyrian Purple over OPI Funky Dunkey. Love it!


Using Tyrian Purple over this OPI really punches the all the colors. When over black you really saw the glowing-ness of the polish. But over purple, the other colors really pop!


The formula on this was perfect! No fishing for glitter! They were just so happy to be swept up and put on my nails for all to see!


This is Karma, a multichrome topcoat that shifts blue to purple to red. It is actually a part of the Astralcolor Duo with Aura from above! This is one coat over Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.


I really love how deep this blue is! Again it's all super shimmery! And again, all the color shifts are there, just, you know, camera shy.




Like the other two polishes, Karma's formula was just perfect, smooth like buttah!

She is 5-Free and cruelty free! And I saw on her site that she is currently have a 10% off sale for a limited time! Don't know when that is so get over there quickly! :)
 Get 10% off your entire order over $10 (excluding S&H), use code "10OFF".

You can check out these and other polishes on the Baroness of Glitter's sites:

These are also her shops:


 

Friday, February 21, 2014

Barielle Review of Polishes, and Lotion, and Cuticle Oil--Oh My!

So last month I was contacted by Barielle to join their team of bloggers! Me! I was flabbergasted and super excited! I still am excited! Sadly because of my health I haven't been able to get to doing my review. But today is finally the day that I was able to do it all!
I really appreciate the Public Relations Department of Barielle in understanding why I hadn't posted my review yet. Thank you!

*Warning: Picture Heavy! And probably one of my longest posts! Hahaha! But it's an awesome one! :)


So let's start with an overview of what I received. I chose the Nail Strengthener Cream, the Intensive Nail Renewal Oil, and 5 polishes (Greenwich Village at Dawn, I Got a Headache, Aura Angora, Belly Dance, and High Marks Purple). The extra Nail Strengthener Cream, in the box, they sent me a few weeks later. (Which I greatly appreciated as I am loving this cream!)

Ok, so as I am writing this I realized that I didn't take an "action" shots of me using the oil or cream; but I can still tell you about them!

The Nail Strengthener Cream: one word: Amazing! I am always on the look out for great hand creams (I have a massive hoard of lotions and creams). But I think this could really be on the top of my list! I have been using it almost daily (twice a day, morning and night) since I have received it. I have barely made a dent in it! You only have to use a little bit to cover all your nails. There is a little fragrance, one that I can't place, but it doesn't bother me at all (and I'm really sensitive to smells). It is a bit greasy but soaks in rather quickly. I really love using it at night and then put gloves on while I sleep!

The Intensive Nail Renewal Oil: Over the winter I have let my cuticle care go down the drain. So I was really excited to try this oil. Easy to apply, again you only need a bit because oil spreads nicely. It is a bit shiny on your cuticles, so wait a bit to take pictures of your nails after using it! It also has a bit of a fragrance, but it doesn't bother me either! 

With using both the Nail Strengthener Cream and Intensive Nail Renewal Oil my nails and cuticles and recovered wonderfully! They are healthy again! I give these two products two fabulous healthy thumbs up!

Now let's take a look at the polishes! And you can see how nice my cuticles are!
** I just want to say that I decided to use all Barielle products in these swatches. So since I did not request a base or top coat from them I decided to purchase my own with my own money. I chose to buy Fortifying Nail Builder with Calcium Fluoride and Ultra Speed Dry Manicure Extender.


First up we have Belly Dance. This is described as "a nude taupe with shimmer". You know how I love nude polishes! But I think I would classify this as more of a rosy nude. It's more pink than taupe for me. But I still like it!


This is two coats with top coat. As you can see there is still a little bit of visible nail line. You can even see the shimmer! Which adds a nice little sparkle to this color. The formula was good, a bit thicker so it did create some drag marks if I had too much polish on the brush. But the top coat hides those marks! :)


This is High Marks Purple. It is described as a "rich, creamy, neon purple." Rich and creamy definitely! Purple, oh yeah! Neon? To a point, but more jewel tone for me because it is a nice rich deep color! But it is still a bright vibrant color!


What to know something fabulous about this polish? This is one coat! One! Yes! Win! The formula was perfect....like buttah! I'm curious as to how well this would stamp......hmmm, might have to do a post on that! :)


This is Greenwich Village at Dawn. A "creamy, dusty, pink". I agree with this description. But one thing they don't mention is the green shimmer/flash that it has! More so in the bottle than on the nail (maybe that's why it's not mentioned?).


I used two coats and the formula was perfect! If you look at the bottle you can see the flash of green. On my nails it just mainly shows up as a shimmer, which is never bad! This polish reminds me a lot of my mother. She always had her nails painted pink! She would have loved this color!


Ah yeah! Of course I would choose this color! This is Aura Angora. And it is fabulous! "A Royal Gold Creme". Hmmm, how about a gorgeous mustard! Such a warm color! A lot of people might consider this a fugly color, but I love it!

And guess what.....one coat! Yep! It's a one coater as well! Sa-weet! The formula was a little bit thicker, so there is a possibility of drag marks, but not too much of an issue. I wonder the stamping ability of this one.....hmmm, again, perhaps another post?


And finally my last polish. I Got a Headache. The name is hilarious! And the color is gorgeous! "A shimmery caramel". Hmm, I think that is pretty accurate! I did have one single brush hair longer than the others that I had to cut, but other than that, no issues!


As you can see there is a some visible nail line and this is two coats. Three would make it opaque.  I just love the shimmer in this!


Just look at that shimmer and glow! Love it!

I am really excited to be working with Barielle. All of these products were just wonderful!  I would recommend them to anyone! And did you see how nice and awesome my cuticles are! Yep, the Nail Strengthener Cream and Intensive Nail Renewal Oil are that fabulous! You can see in some pictures where I didn't wait enough time to let the oil really soak in.

Oh and want to know something else cool about Barielle? See that horse jumping over the letter B. I've never noticed it before on my one previously owned Barielle polish. 
Well, "[o]ver 30 years ago, Barielle introduced "Nail Strengthener Cream" as the first nail care product of its kind. Originally formulated to condition the hooves of million-dollar thoroughbred racehorses, this legendary skin care product helps nails grow healthier and stronger while resisting splits, peels and breaks. Its effectiveness launched Barielle as a nail and skin care company with unique products and approaches to treating, protecting and maintaining nails. Barielle has since evolved into one of the leading prestige nail care, hand care and foot care brands sold in the world, known for our cracked feet treatments and the best moisturizers for dry skin." source

It's only been since 2005 that they started making color polishes! Interesting huh! They are 3-Free and free of any animal products or animal testing!

I've already bought four more polishes with my own money! The quality of these polishes are lovely!

You can find out more about their products by visiting:

Make sure you sign up for their emails for upcoming specials!


Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Books 'n' Bloggers Swap Reveal!

Hey Owlets! Sorry I have been MIA the last few days. Reworking the meds.......it sucks.....but, I think they might be working! Crossing fingers! But I was not able to prepare anything else this week and possibly next week. We shall see.

But! I do have an awesome swap reveal to show you all!

http://cgswaps.blogspot.com/2014/02/books-n-bloggers-swap-show-off-link-up.html

So I told you last month I was participating in this Book Swap by Chaotic Goddess Swaps (you need to check them out! Awesome swaps to sign up for!) and today is the reveal day! Woot woot!

First off, my swap buddy was Cook's Reviews. And she is awesome! We have such similar taste in books, when I saw her wish list it could have passed as mine! So the swap partner setup that Chaotic Goddess set up was perfect!

The basic rules of the swap:

Send your partner three books:
1. A book you love
2. A book you haven't read but are interested in
3. A book from your partner's wish list


This is what I got! So excited!

1. Book my swap buddy loves: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I have never heard of this book, but I am very intrigued. It has amazing illustrations and after reading reviews I can't wait to read it!

2. A Book my swap buddy hasn't read but is interested in: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Ok, so I don't remember if this was on my wish list or not. But I have been eyeing this book for awhile now ever since A Girl and Her Polish did a mani inspired by it. I seriously almost bought it last week! So I am thrilled that she sent this!

3. A book of my wish list: The Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfield. I have been wanting to read this book (series) for a while now and our library didn't have it.  So I am super excited! I also think it's funny that I gave her a Scott Westerfield book in the swap too! Great minds think alike! :)


I also got this awesome bookmark! I love it! Look! It's an owl! Sa-weet! 

This was such an awesome experience and a neat idea! There is going to be another book swap in June so make sure you check out Chaotic Goddess Swaps for more info!

I want to thank my swap buddy at Cook's Reviews for the awesome (wow, how many times can I say this word in this post? Maybe I should have asked for a thesaurus!) swap! I love it all and can't wait to read them! Thank you!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Nail-Art-A-Go-Go Challenge Day 3: Warm vs Cool


For the warm vs cool prompt for the challenge I decided to do a gradient. I really love how this turned out.


The colors I used are: Zoya Sooki, Sally Hansen Crushed, Finger Paints Art Nouv-Yellow, China Glaze Def Defying, China Glaze Electric Beat, and China Glaze Gothic Lolita.


I then stamped over it with KleanColor Metallic Jungle and Metallic Pink using MoYou Sailor 03. I topped it off with NYC in a New York Minute Top Coat. But I wanted to see what it looked like matte.


And this was the final version after two coats of NYC Matte Me Crazy and one coat of Orly Matte Top. Didn't go as matte as I wanted but I still like the softening of the gradient, especially on my ring finger.

Don't forget to check out what the other ladies have done!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Nail-Art-A-Go-Go Challenge Day 2: Jewel Tones


The prompt is Jewel Tones so I chose to make my nails into jewels that have a star burst in the center. It's a really simple but elegant mani. This shows it without top coat.


I started with two coats of KleanColor Metallic Purple. I then stamped using KleanColor Metallic Fuschia, using an Essence stamping plate. Added NYC In a New York Minute top coat! There you go, jeweled nails.


Don't forget to check out what the other ladies have done!