OPI: I Brake for Manicures (Touring America Collection)

Hi everyone! Today I have another color from OPI's Touring America collection. This one is called I Brake for Manicures which is a gorgeous vampy eggplant color which is difficult to see in the photos. I think the photos make it look pretty brown but it's so dark I can see why it doesn't translate properly on camera.  I think it's a nice looking manicure but it's not my favorite color of all time, it's just really dark.

The formula on this was great. I got full opacity with two coats and had no streaking or balding.  It wore well and didn't chip for days, which is always a plus to me.

What do you think of this one? Do you own it?

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy.

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OPI: Honk if You Love OPI (Touring America Collection)

Hi everyone! Today I have another great color from OPI's Touring America collection to share with you.  This is Honk if You Love OPI which OPI describes as a dark grape.  It's a super vampy dark eggplant colored creme.  It's rich and so pretty when you want something dark but not black. I guess I can see where OPI got grape from, it's like a rich dark grape jelly color. Yum! LOL.

The formula on this required three coats for the opacity pictured.  I did have issues with some balding, particularly on my pink and ring finger. One of you once asked me what I meant by balding which was actually harder to explain than I thought, but I think you'll be able to see what  I mean in the photos.  It's no big deal and tends to happen sometimes when a color is dark but on the thin side.  If I was more careful with application it may not have happened.

I really like this one. I love the color and I think it'd be flattering on a ton of different skintones. 

See, this is what I mean by balding, look closely at the ring and pinky fingers:

What do you think? Hit or miss? Let me know in the comments :-) Thanks so much for reading.

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy.

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Color Club: Artsy Crafty (Back to Boho Collection)

It's Friday! Yay!!! I just need to make it though the work day then it's the weekend!   What are your plans for the weekend? Anything exciting? I have no real plans for the weekend but on next Tuesday I am going to see Britney Spears!! I have been a huge Britney fan since she first came out and I am so excited for this show!!

Today I have a color from the  Color Club Back to Boho collection.  This is Artsy Crafty, a gorgeous blackened green creme.  I am a huge fan of colors like this and I think it fits well in the fall collection.

Formula wise, this performed well. I had no trouble applying this and sometimes I make a mess with dark colors. I love Color Club's brush, it's tiny and thin enough for me to apply the product neatly without making a mess, but not so thin that I have to keep dipping back into the bottle. I found this particular color to be nice and pigmented and I just needed two coats for the opacity shown.

TIP:  I used Color Club's 60 second top coat which came in the pack with this portion of the Back to Boho collection and I did not like it.  It seemed like it dried but then I went to sleep and work up with the dreaded sheet marks.  Now this happened before I took the pics. What's a nail polish blogger to do? Well on a whim I decided to just try and paint over the marks with the Deborah Lippman top coat (identical similar to Seche Vite) and what do you know? The sheet marks were gone! So if that ever happens to you, before taking all the color off and polishing again, try and use a good quality fast drying top coat (thick one like Seche Vite) on top and see if it evens it all out. I was really happy because the marks looked and felt like deep gouges but they disappeared with one simple coat! 

Pretty right? What do you think of this one? Have you tried to cover sheet marks with a top coat? Has it worked for you? Let me know if you have any good tips.

Heads up! Be on the lookout for a giveaway coming soon! I am going to give away a 7 pack of the dark colors from the Color Club Back to Boho  collection, and this color is in that set.  Keep an eye out for a chance to win!

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy.

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Nicole by OPI: Kiss Me At Midnight & Bring on the Tinsel

Monday, Monday, Monday. Hope everyone kicks off the week with a good day. :-)

Today I have two polishes from the Nicole by OPI Holiday Magic collection; Kiss Me At Midnight  and Bring On the Tinsel. 


Kiss Me At Midnight is a really pretty vampy dark burgundy. It's not entirely unique but it is a color I love.  It's got some nice depth to it, it won't be mistaken for black it definitely has enough red pigment in it to make it a true dark red.


The formula was standard. Easy to use, no issues with application.  I used two coats for opacity and was happy with the results.


Sorry for the nails in these swatches, I am still trying to get the middle nail to grow so they're all even. It's so irritating to me! Ugh!

Bring On The Tinsel is a fun holiday glitter. The base is clear and it's packed with mostly silver glitter and then specks of red and a sort of bluish green. It's really festive and fun but it's no match for China Glaze's Party Hearty  which in my book is the standout glitter of the holiday season for sure! 

Again, no issues with application. I used two coats on top of Kiss Me At Midnight. I think this combo is interesting but maybe next time I will pair it with a deep green or brighter red color. 

So are you lusting after any of these holiday selections? What would you pair Bring on the Tinsel with? Let me know your suggestions!

Disclosure: This product was sent to me by PR. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion. Please refer to my disclosure policy at the top of the page for more info.

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Color Club: Ready to Royal

Hi everyone! I hope all of my American readers are ready for a great Thanksgiving tomorrow! I plan to eat... a lot.  Enjoy your time with your families everyone!!!!

Today I wanted to share Ready to Royal from Color Club's Untamed Luxury Collection. This is a super shiny, vampy royal purple color. It's so shiny in fact that in many of my photos you can see a reflection, which is quite annoying but that's life.  It boarders on black but it's purple enough for me. I love it. I adore all purples so I may be a bit biased. 

The formula was nice. I didn't have much clean up to do which is good because I usually do with dark colors like as this.  I used 2 coats and for the most part I am opaque with no streaks. There's a little balding on the pinkie finger so I suppose 3 coats would have been better but it's really no big deal.  

On to the swatches. Check out that shine!!!!

Did you pick up Ready to Royal this fall? Do you plan on picking it up? 

Disclosure: This product was sent to me by PR. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion. Please refer to my disclosure policy at the top of the page for more info.

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OPI: Tease-y Does It (Burlesque Collection)

Happy Friday everyone! Who else is hoping to see Harry Potter this weekend? I hope we get to go. I know the crowds will be miserable but I am a huge fan and I am sure it will be so worth it!  Today I have a color from the OPI Burlesque Collection to share with you.

This is Tease-y Does It and OPI describes it as a "tempting burgundy shimmer". This color is quite vampy and quite beautiful. It's got a slight dark purple tone with tons of burgundy micro-shimmer in it. It's got the "almost black" thing going on but it's quite apparent, even in low lighting that this is not the typical black. The shimmer is prominent and beautiful.  It's not the most unique shade in the world but it's got a place in my collection for sure. 

I must be getting used to application with the pro wide brushes because I didn't have my usual application issues. I have been trying carefully to use the three stroke method and it's been working well for me with all brush types.  Even though this color is dark I did need three coats to reach full opacity and fix any streaks or bald spots. 

So what do you think of Tease-y Does It? Would you like to get this in your stocking this year? I love a good vampy polish so this one is a winner for me. It's not 100% unique in terms of color but that doesn't mean I don't love it and NEED it in my life.  And any good polish hoarder knows that even if there are colors that are similar no two colors are truly identical.  

Disclosure: This product was sent to me by PR. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion. Please refer to my disclosure policy at the top of the page for more info.

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nubar: Sateen (Finest Silks Collection)

Good morning everyone! I have been up practically all night, I just couldn't sleep. Annoying! It's snowing and raining here, ew. However, for the life of me, I cannot understand why all of my local friends on facebook are so shocked it's snowing. Hello, it's November in Connecticut, it snows. It happens each year! Oh well. Rant over. 

So today I have another color from nubar's Finest Silks collection, this is Sateen  which is a gorgeous rich blood red. I am not sure my photos even do it justice, it's exactly the color you'd think of when someone says "blood red".  

I love nubar's formula. It's great! It's smooth and applies like a dream. I love nubar's brush, it makes three stroke application so simple! I used two coats in these photos but this color could probably benefit from a third coat just for maximum opacity. There is no real visible nail line in my photos but with two coats and certain lighting you can see it slightly.  I didn't mind, and I hate VNL, so really the third coat is only needed if you're not in a rush.   I love the shiny finish this color has, nothing makes me happier than a nice shiny creme, YUM!!!

Are you loving this one as much as I am? There is just something about a good creme red that  I cannot get enough of. It will never go out of style in my book.


This polish is available at bynubar.com for $7.49 a bottle.


Thanks for reading. Don't be shy, I love comments. Say whatever is on your mind and tell me all about your blog!

Disclosure: This product was sent to be by PR for consideration. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. 

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China Glaze: Tis' the Season to be Naughty & Nice: Part 2

I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a really fun weekend. My husband and I joined my 2 brother in laws, sister in law and our four month old godson for some pumpkin picking. We had a great time. I love the fall. But fall comes and goes quite quickly which is why I have some more China Glaze Christmas colors to show you today. :-)

This is Sugar Plums which is described as a plum shimmer. To my eye it's really a maroon with some silver and holo microglitter. I thought this was going to be one of my favorites from the collection but unfortunately I had some issues with the formula so I can't say it lived up to my expectations.

I had the same issue with this one as I had with Color Club's De-luxe-cious where the glitter leaves the polish with a bumpy finish. It's quite textured as it appears the glitter sinks into the polish a bit and gets covered with the base color. I wanted it to be a little more holo so you'll see I added Cover Girl's City Lights top coat to the mix. I love that top coat. If you love holo glitter you should really check that one out.

Overall Sugar Plums is pretty but the issues with the sinking glitter make it not as amazing as it could be. Here are some photos:

I wish I could photograph that top coat better. It's really amazing. It will make any polish a rainbow masterpiece. I got so many compliments on this combo. When the sun hits it it is mesmerizing.

Next up is one of my favorites from the collection it is the collection's namesake: Naughty and Nice. This is described as "a deeply rich wine creme" which I can totally see. It's totally a gorgeous sort of Cabernet color. It's a creme but it's slightly jelly like in my book. In some lights it can lean black but if you do 2 coats like I did you will see the red tones just fine. It reminds me a lot of China Glaze's long discontinued Dripping Wet (I apologize for those swatches, it was when I first started blogging and I had horrible cuticle pooling, sorry!!) but Naughty and Nice is slightly darker.

I did two coats so that it wasn't black but you can see some balding where I did not apply carefully. It does not bother me but I know some people would rather do the third coat to avoid that.

My favorite thing about this color is the high shine finish. It's like patent leather. It's just gorgeous. My favorite polishes are high gloss cremes, there's just something chic about them. This color is so nice. Work safe but vampy. I think it will be used a lot in my collection.

So do either of these beauties get you excited for Christmas? Plan on picking either one up?

Disclosure: This collection was provided to me for consideration. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion.

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Essie: Velvet Voyeur (The Fall Collection)

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a good weekend, we went to a picnic on Saturday and it was my sister in law's 3oth bday on Sunday. My husband and I went hiking on Sunday though and I got hurt :( We hiked up this crazy hard trail and I survived it unscathed... on the way down we took an easier trail and of course that is when I fall and twist my ankle. OMG it hurt and still hurts so BAD! I couldn't even get up. My poor husband had to carry me down the rest of the trail on his back. Poor guy. I couldn't put any weight on my ankle. I was so scared I broke it. It's getting better now but I still have to hop around so I didn't go into my volunteer job today. Hopefully it will be better soon, oh well, on the the polish!

This is Essie's Velvet Voyeur and it's part of The Fall Collection. Essie describes it as and "intense chocolate amethyst" and I think that's pretty accurate. It's sort of a mix between a rich dark brown and a dark purple. Sometimes it looks brownish sometimes it looks purple. It's VERY dark and vampy, perfect for fall and winter. I think it's also safe for work, a bit edgy but still professional enough for most settings I'd bet. It was sort of hard to photograph but I think you'll get the point of the color from the photos below.

The formula is great. I didn't have any issues with the consistency. I ALWAYS make a mess with dark colors but it was no problem with clean up. I really love Essie polishes, I have never really had issues with the formula except for once with one of the spring colors. Otherwise I find them to be consistently excellent quality.

What do you think of this one? A must have for fall or will you skip it?

The fall collection is available now and these retail for $8 a piece.

Disclosure: This collection was furnished to me by PR for consideration. All reviews published on this blog are at my own discretion.

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