New Indie Alert!!! Cinema Swatch Lacquers: Emerald City Gates

Press Sample

*Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Hello Lovelies! Happy Wednesday! I'm a touch behind (again....I'm getting used to this) since I received some horrible news from my family in England yesterday. I will not go into it here since I feel it is deeply personal and my family needs their privacy during this incredibly hard time.

Anyway, I will have a Mish Mash Manicure for you all today, however I'm starting the day off with a brand new Indie Brand! I live for finding new and awesome Indie Brands, and this one really stood out to me.

Cinema Swatch Lacquers is a new Indie polish brand focused on Movie themed lacquers. Their first collection centers around The Wizard of Oz, which I find a very fitting entrance. I was lucky enough to receive 4 polishes from this collection to share with you, and all of them are just beautiful. SO let's take a look at my first Cinema Swatch Lacquers polish!

Emerald City Gates boasts a fabulous Olive toned green base packed with emerald, gold, and sapphire micro-glitter. This baby screams Emerald City to me, and makes me want to pull out the movie and grab some popcorn.

This is 3 coats with top coat:

Yowza! I think it's fair to say that this polish is gorgeous! I love a good green, and those microglitters add just the right touch of sparkle. Definitely one of my favorite greens. In fact, I can see myself reaching for this often - I do love those Olive toned greens!

Emerald City Gates' formula is incredibly impressive. I'll be honest- when trying out a brand spankin' new Indie, I don't expect a flawless formula or great application. There's a bit of a learning curve with making polish (so I hear - I'm not talented or patient enough to give it a go myself), but Emerald City Gates hit the mark right out of the gate (pun intended?)! Consistency was lovely - thick enough for great coverage yet thin enough to flow nicely, and I did not have any thickening during use. Application was wonderful as well with no dragging or balding. In fact, this polish flowed onto the nail like liquid silk. ECG is a touch sheer, so you will need 2-3 coats for opacity (I used 3 for intensity). Dry time was incredibly fast, and wear was excellent with no signs of wear at 36 hours.

Talk about an impressive start! Cinema Swatch Lacquers has definitely hit the ground running. I was so impressed with this polish that I literally could not stop showing anyone and everyone who would bother to look. I mean, I have polish from established brands that don't have a formula this good. Same for application. This is definitely a brand to watch. I have 3 more pretties from Cinema Swatch Lacquers to share with you over the coming week or so, and I cannot wait.

You can check out Cinema Swatch Lacquers and the Wizard of Oz debut Collection at Cinema Swatch on Etsy. Polishes run $5 for 7.5ml, or you can grab the entire 6 polish collection for $25. Be sure to follow Cinema Swatch Lacquers on Instagram for updates, giveaways, swatches, sales info and more.

What do you think of Emerald City Gates? Isn't this a flippin' awesome polish?

I'll be back later on with another Mish Mash Challenge manicure! Tomorrow brings more Polish TBH awesomeness and I have some Squishy Face Polish and more Cinema Swatch Lacquers coming your way soon.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber


*Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information**

Press Sample

A-England Beauty Never Fails - with special guest Holy Grail (revamped)

Good morning loves! Happy Friday! It's payday Friday here, which means the start of XMas shopping and of course, new polish! I have already ordered the 2 new polishes from A-England's Heavenly Quotes Collection and cannot wait to share them with you all! I'll also have part of a new collection from the always awesome Polish TBH, as well as new Twenty Seven Polish!

Today's manicure has been stuck in my head since the very first time I laid eyes on Beauty Never Fails and the newly reformulated Holy Grail. I love nail art, but lately I have been leaning toward more subtle and elegant looking nail art versus my usual over the top manis. This manicure, to me anyway, is elegant and chic, while being utterly sexy at the same time. Before I show you the nails, let's delve into the base color...


  “Only this is true: that beauty is very beautiful, and softens, and comforts, and inspires, and rouses and lifts up, and never fails”
Edward Coley Burne-Jones  (1894)

One of my favorite aspects of A-England (besides the perfect formula and unique and breathtaking colors) is that every single polish is named for something special. The Legends and The Mythicals are inspired by Sir Arthur and Camelot, each polish truly embodying the essence of its namesake. Adina's latest collection, Heavenly Quotes, are all based on beautiful and uplifting quotes from artists, writers, and poets. Not only do we benefit from Adina's stunning polish, but we get some education at the same time! I am a huge fan of English Legends due to my family on my Mother's side Hailing from Ipswich, Suffolk. I've loved England since I lived there as a child, and every time I have visited I have fallen in love all over again. I am especially fond of England's rich History - the Monarchy, old, crumbling castles and their History, Historical sites. I am especially fond of Elizabeth I and of course, Camelot. I'm also a huge fan of classic literature and poetry, so Adina's collections appeal to so much more than just the nail polish fanatic in me (I wonder if there could ever be a polish inspired by my favorite poem - "Never Give All The Heart" by W.B. Yeats).

But I digress! Beauty Never Fails was inspired by the above quote, written in a letter to  a friend of Edward Burne-Jones. I love this quote - it's simple, yet complex, uplifting and thought provoking. Little Known Fact: Adina has this quote permanently etched on her body (very cool! The more I learn about Adina, the more I admire and am inspired by her.).

Beauty Never Fails, the polish, is an utterly amazing combination of emerald green, olive green, antique gold and subtle bronze fleck in a blackened olive toned green base. In the bottle, Beauty simply glows, and once on the nail, the effect is mesmerizing. Dark yet not black, this polish appeals to those of us that love dark colors but aren't always in the mood for an entirely black (or mostly black) polish. If you're thinking that BNF looks similar to some other Olive toned/golden flecked polishes out there, I have to say that BNF is not like any other.  You really need to see her in person to appreciate her beauty and her inner glow.

Beauty Never Fails was released along with the newly revamped Holy Grail (review and swatches to come), and once I saw those bottles side by side, I decided that I wanted to show this polish with Holy Grail.

I started with a base of A-England The Knight base coat (review forthcoming, but let me say that this is simply the best base coat I have ever used). I applied two coats of Beauty Never Fails and allowed them to dry. Then I grabbed my striping tape and laid out the pattern, sponging Holy Grail over the tips in a gradient fashion. I topped it all off with a coat of The Shield (review forthcoming - but I will say that you NEED this topcoat. Especially if you're an SV fan). The result is one of my favorite manicures yet. Subtle yet eye-catching, vampy yet bright, sexy yet chic. In fact, this is what is on my nails right now.

I am in love with Beauty Never Fails...and this manicure. The olive undertones in this girl are just lovely, and the gold, green and bronze fleck really bring this polish to life. Combined with the new Holy Grail, well let's just say that this is one of my favorite polish combinations to date.  Beauty and Holy Grail are meant for each other, and I have seen many manicures using this combintation - all of which are just beautiful.

Formula:
Beauty Never Fails has the signature A-England formula - thick, yet not too thick to use. Never goopy or gloppy, and no thickening during use. I've said it before and I stand by it: A-England's formula is sheer perfection.

Application:
This lovely applied smooth as silk, flowing like butter onto the nail and staying exactly where I placed it. Little o no clean-up required. Although nearly opaque in one coat, Two coats ensure complete opacity and depth of color. Due to the glass fleck, Beauty is slightly textured when dry, yet not gritty. It has a beautiful shine to it, only needing topcoat to smooth out the texture and add extra shine. Combined with The Shield, A-England's top coat, this polish shines like a polished diamond (my pictures don' show the shine well - my lighting tends to wash out the shine). I experienced no streaking, although this polish dries very fast, and if you go over the same spot more than once or twice it does drag slightly.  This only occurred on the first coat, the second coat evening out nicely. Entirely self-leveling, no need to worry about uneven application.

Once again, I am deeply impressed by Adina's creation. The only thing I can really say that hasn't been said before is this : There is nothng like an A-England polish!

What do you think of Beauy Never Fails? Are you looking forward to seeing the new Heavenly Quotes as well?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

China Glaze Wicked Collection, Halloween 2012: Cast A Spell

Hi all! Another 2 post day today! I really wanted to wear a Halloween polish today, and I can't resist sharing it with you!

Today I have Cast A Spell from the China Glaze Wicked Collection, an insanely beautiful Golden Olive glass fleck in a deep green base. The base of this polish is so dark that it can appear black at times, but in most light it shows a deep Olive toned green. The glass flecks have a lovely golden Olive hue, and make this polish just glow from within. I've been waiting to wear this for awhile now, and I am in awe of it's murky beauty.

Macro shot: Look at that gorgeous Glass Fleck!

Look at that color! I love how dark, yet vibrant this polish looks. I think this is my very favorite Halloween polish from this years collections.

Formula:
Cast A Spell is a little on the thick side, however I experienced no glopping or additional thickening during use. Very buttery formula on this one.

Application:
Smooth and effortless, Cast A Spell applied beautifully with zero dragging or balding.  Easy to control, this girl needed very little clean-up, but beware! If you are OCD about your lines like I am and always clean up no matter what, this polish will leave glittery residue anywhere your brush touches! As a bonus, CAS could be deemed a one coater, although I'm wearing 2 coats for depth and color.

I am so glad that I didn't pass on this one.  Despite there being very similar colors out there, this is certainly a gem among my collection.

What is your favorite Halloween polish from this year?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

butter LONDON Wallis and new Mash 2012 plates

I've been dying to wear this color for months now! It's been gathering dust on my shelves since I was saving it for a time when I could wear it for a few days. Since the challenge is over, I just couldn't wait any longer. I know you guys have seen this a thousand times, but here is butter LONDON "Wallis".

I apologize for the lighting; it's been overcast and snowing on and off here and there was no natural light at all yesterday. Wallis ended up in the lightbox, and no matter how I shoot it, the lightbox is never the same as sunlight.

 And one with flash to show how how the gold shines:

I LOVE this color! The olive/gold combination is pure awesomsauce. I'm not sure about how it looks with my skin tone, but it's amazing enough that I don't care much! This was 2 smooth-as-silk coats and SV to top it off.  I adore butter LONDON's formula, and Wallis did not disappoint.  But.....being me...I wasn't satisfied with wearing it alone, so I decided to try out my brand new MASH stamping plates. I received these on Thursday and I was so excited to try them out. I have to tell you guys, I'm a little disappointed. As you can see in the pics, my images are smeared on the left side of my nails - not from my top coat, but because the etching is so deep that it holds a TON of polish. My right hand came out much better since I picked up the image with my stamp, then waited about 20 seconds before stamping my nails. It didn't matter how much I scraped, the only thing that left a clear image was to allow the image to dry a bit on the stamp. Also, the  full nail images are tiny. They barely cover my middle fingernail, and leave a good third of my thumbnails uncovered. If I want to use these when my length is back, Im going to have to learn how to combine 2 stampings to look like one on the nail. The single images are awesome though. And the french tip stamps are small enough to actually use. My bundle monster french tip images take up half my nail, so I never use them. These I may actually try. Anyway, onto the pics of my smeared fauxnadicure!

What a smeary mess! At least I know that these plates give me some extra time before stamping the nail. I plan on trying the again this week to see if I can make the smaller full nail images cover my nails a bit more.

I should be back to posting more often now. I was sick yesterday so I took the day off (I managed to do a mani, and that was about all I could muster!), but I miss blogging every day so I'll be here often. Now it's off to swatch one of my newer polishes and turn it into a mani. :)

Happy polishing!
-Kimber