Cirque Colors Holiday 2016 Collection Swatches & Review

I've got another holiday collection for ya today, this time from Cirque Colors! They are bringing us four radiant lacquers inspired by the glitz and glam of the holiday season. We have three new shades and one returning favorite.

Press Sample

Halcyon is a highly reflective rose gold made with pure silver-coated micro-flakes. This shade came out a while ago and it was a limited edition, so it's great to see again in case you missed it the first time (which I did). This has excellent coverage and a flawless formula. It was almost completely opaque in one coat but I used one more for good measure.

Idyllic is a highly reflective icy blue made with pure silver-coated micro-flakes. This has the same formula as Halcyon but it might be just a touch less opaque. Equally great formula, two coats.

Ambrosia is an oxblood red holographic. This applied like butter, another almost one coater. I used two here to get the full deepness of color you see in the bottle.

Winter Bloom is a mint green jelly filled with holographic flakes and a gorgeous blush shimmer flash. This one was a touch sheer, but that better shows off the flakes and shimmer. I used three coats here.

These shades are available now on the Cirque Colors website for $13 each. Let me know what you think about this collection! I'm head over heels for them all, believe it or not, but Halcyon has my heart!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Different Dimension Homespun Holidays Collection Swatches & Review

Happy Friday friends! Different Dimension has a beautiful new holiday collection out right now called Homespun Holidays, a seven piece collection full of holographics and one glitter topper. This classy bunch of colors are gorgeous and is sure to liven up your nails this holiday season, and beyond.

Press Sample

Family is a light gold linear holographic with added shimmers. This looks more yellow gold in some lighting and more soft pale gold in others. I adore a good gold and this makes me swoon! Two effortless coats.

Naughty is a bold cherry red holographic. This flame is a bit less intense than the other holos in this collection, it almost seems like the vibrant base color is swallowing it up, but it's more prominent in person. You can get full coverage in one coat but two gives a slightly deeper color.

Celebration is a greyed taupe holographic with added shimmers, flakies and reddish-copper holographic microglitters. Fabulous formula, two coats for full coverage. Due to the microglitters this dries ever so slightly more textured than the others, but you may not even notice.

Nice is a cheery medium grass green linear holographic. This has almost a jelly-ish formula, less opaque. I used three coats here but you may be fine with two depending on your application style.

Tradition is a pale copper holographic polish with added copper shimmers. Another excellent formula, two coats. A gorgeous shade, I need more copper polishes in my life!

Blizzard is a glitter topper, a clear base filled with silver holographic glitters, iridescent glitters and white glitters to represent freshly fallen snow. I used one coat over Naughty. The twinkly iridescent glitters are my favorite in this, I can't wait to try it over more base colors! Dense with glitter and super easy to apply evenly, which I really appreciate as I find layering to be tricking sometimes.

Rejoice is a silver linear holographic polish with added shimmers and silver micro flakies. Mega flame density on this one, like wowza! The flakes add another cool dimension too, it's a winner. Two easy, dreamy coats.

Different Dimension also has some new cuticle oil scents available for the season: Blessings - an enveloping blend of grape, peach and plum with sparkling citrus, rose and musk; Jolly - just like mom use to make - yummy cookies made with sugar and vanilla and fresh from the oven; Noel - crushed candy canes are sprinkled over luscious layers of sugary white chocolate to make this cool yet sweet dessert sensation; Cheer - holiday notes of fir needle, cinnamon stick, cranberries, crisp apple and cedarwood; and Merry - notes of spun sugar, vanilla bean and apple cider.

The Homespun Holidays collection is available now on the Different Dimension website for $12 each, with the exception of Blizzard, which is specially priced at $5. Let me know what you think about these gorgeous holiday polishes!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Zoya Winter/Holiday 2016 Enchanted Collection Swatches & Review

We made it to Wednesday, congrats to us! And happy November to all you autumn-loving folks, I'm totally digging the crisp weather right now. Today I have the Winter/Holiday line from Zoya to share with you, the Enchanted collection. This six shade palette gives us two metallic "flips" and three PixieDusts! Zoya said they were retiring this textured finish a while back, but they must have reconsidered due to popular demand, as they gave us some in their summer collection too.

Press Sample

images via Zoya

Waverly is a deep sapphire blue with blue sparkles in the exclusive PixieDust matte sparkle formula. I am SO happy to have new colors in this finish, it's so striking. Applied easily and dries quickly to a textured, sandy finish. I prefer these in their textured state, but you could use a few layers of top coat to make it smooth if you want. I always wear a base coat, though they say you don't need one for these. However this is a very pigmented blue, so it may stain.

Lorna is a luscious berry magenta with a sugary bling in the matte sparkle PixieDust formula. The sparkle from the glitter in these may seem shy in the photographs, but it's delightfully twinkly in person. Two easy coats here.

Alice is an enigmatic periwinkle PixieDust with subtle magenta and blue sparkles. This formula seemed thinner with a slightly chunkier heft to the glitter. I was thinking maybe I would need three coats but it became opaque in two. This is nice and unique, an exciting shade to have in a texture finish.

Elphie is a bewitching emerald green PixieDust matte sparkle. Another excellent formula, full coverage in two coats. I think this is probably named for Elphaba from Wicked, which is of course awesome. I needed this green texture in my life, sexy and so wearable.

Saint is a vivid periwinkle shimmer multichrome with a magenta shift. This has a thin but easy formula, a bit prone to brushstrokes but they don't look bad with this type of finish. I used three coats for full coverage.

Olivera is a mesmerizing color-flip metallic with an indigo base and a green and purple shift. This is seriously gorgeous, dark and glimmering. Very close to being a one coater, two layers makes it perfect though. I can see myself wearing this over and over.

The Enchanted collection is available now on the Zoya website for $10 each. What do you think of these lacquers? I'm pretty taken with them, this is probably my favorite Zoya collection all year! I would say Olivera and Elphie have to be my favs, how about you? Enjoy your day sweets!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

The Holo Hookup November 2016 Swatches & Review

The Holo Hookup is flying into our hearts again for another collaboration box! The November quartet is inspired by beautiful, colorful birds, themed as "Birds Of A Feather". The box always features unique, exclusive polishes from indie brands Cupcake Polish, DIFFERENT dimension and Glisten & Glow, with a fourth shade from a special guest brand. This month they are joined by Nine Zero Lacquer.

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color inspiration

Cupcake Polish Flamingo is a bright orangey pink linear holographic. The first adjective I could think of when I first saw this was juicy! Can lean more orange in different lighting. Excellent formula, two coats for full opacity.

Glisten & Glow Purple Grenadier is a medium purple linear holographic with added shimmers and cherry red galaxy glitters. I found this to have a creamier formula than the others, a little thin but not difficult to apply. This is two coats. The red glitters really shine in person, giving this a unique pop.

DIFFERENT dimension Pygmy Kingfisher is a stunning gold linear holographic with a chrome red/orange/yellow multichrome effect. You have to see this to believe it, it's breathtaking! A touch thicker than the others, two coats here.

Nine Zero Lacquer Masked Flowerpiercer is a cerulean blue linear holographic. I've been fortunate to know the Nine Zero brand from their beginnings, they are a great brand. This applied effortlessly and covered in two coats, with slight brushstrokes.

The November box pre-order is open from Friday, October 21 9PM EDT through Friday, October 28 9PM EDT on The Holo Hookup website. The cost for the box is $40 plus shipping, domestic and international. I hope you enjoyed seeing these swatches, I really loved the colors this round. What do you think?

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Serious Business Collection + Pantone Duo Swatches & Review

In case you didn't know, Pretty Serious Cosmetics, an indie nail polish brand based in Australia, was created by a nail polish blogger! Kaz has been on the scene since I can remember, she's an OG! Her latest collection is about nail polish blogging, using the name Serious Business because as we all know, we take this gig seriously! ;) The shade names are all terms from the life of nail blogger/polish enthusiast, so clever!

Press Sample

Free Sample is a baby pink crelly filled with glass fleck shimmer that reflects pink, green and blue. Nice formula, easy to polish with. Still slightly streaky on two coats, so I used three. Dries a bit dull so use a top coat for shine.

HTF is a brown/black jelly filled with gold microshimmer and opalescent flakies that flash orange/yellow/green/blue. Sheer-ish but that's to be expected with a jelly formula, good formula. This is three coats. Dries surprisingly shiny.

Destash is a hot fuchsia pink crelly filled with glowy blue shimmer. The formula is a little thin but it was incredibly opaque, a one coater! I used two here.

Epic Haul is a muted deep kelly green jelly filled with glass fleck shimmer that reflects pink, green and blue. Really great formula, glides on easily and full coverage in two coats.

Dupe is a glitter bomb, opaque dark teal blue base with hex glitters in purple, blue, and gold. This was pretty thick unfortunately and due to the extreme amount of glitter, I wrote in my notes that it was "chunkarific". I used a dabbing motion on my second coat to even out the glitter and kind of smooth it out. You'll probably want two coats of thick top coat as it does dry a little textured with all the glitter.

No-Buy is a warm holly berry red filled with gold shimmer micro flakes. Another fab formula, buttery smooth. Two coats!

These next two shades are not part of the Serious Business collection, but are new colors based on the Pantone colors of the year, Rose Quartz and Serenity.

Use The Quartz, Lone Starr! is a very pale pink crème, it's so pale it's almost white. A little thin but surprisingly easy to polish with, considering it's such a light color. This was super close to being opaque in two coats but I used three to get 100% coverage.

Can't Take The Sky is a beautiful, sweet baby blue crème. Amazing formula, buttery and very opaque. This is two coats. My favorite of the "Serenity" blues I've tried from any brand!

These are all available now on the Pretty Serious Cosmetics website for $9.95 AUD. What do you think of these new shades? I'm pretty impressed with all of them, even though the glitter didn't work as well as I'd hope. Must haves for me are Can't Take the Sky, Epic Haul and Destash. Have a great week everyone!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Nine Zero Lacquer The Men of Letters Collection + Polish of the Month Swatches & Review

Hey there lacquer enthusiast! Today I have a bunch of new polishes from indie brand Nine Zero Lacquer to show you! Their fall collection is inspired by the tv show Supernatural and is called The Men of Letters collection. I don't watch the show, even though Jensen Ackles is in it and he's a perfect human specimen and is a gift to our world, haha. And I also have the polish of the month shades for August and September stuck in at the end. Let's get to lookin!

Press Sample

The Colt is a dark grey with red shimmer. Super opaque, a one coater but I used two here. Dries dull, in fact all of these do, but a layer of top coat brings out the shine of course. They all also dry really fast!

Stolen Grace is an ice blue holographic. This is a bit thin but pretty nice to apply. Goes on a little brushstrokey, the formula is almost on the frosty side but not quite. This is three coats, but you might be able to get away with just two.

Purgatory is a light grey/brown/purple shifting holographic. Same formula as Stolen Grace. I like this color a lot, it's unexpected! Three coats, but again you may only need two.

Lucifer's Cage is a medium dusty blue holographic. Has a great formula, still thin but a breeze to apply. Two coats for this guy.

Wayward Son is a medium dusty moss green holographic. This has the same formula as Lucifer's Cage, I used two coats here too.

Moose is a chocolate brown holographic. The holo particles are bigger in this one, and it practically applied itself! Great opacity, two coats. I looooove brown holos, this is stunning.

Croatoan is a dark, rusty red holographic. Same formula as Moose, two coats for this one as well. I am dazzled by these extra sparkly holos, more please Jess!

Holy Fire is a golden bronze full coverage flakie polish with added holographic sparkle. Excellent application and reaches full opacity on two coats. Dries down flat, not gritty. Super gorgeous!

Angel Blade is a bright silver metallic holographic with silver flakies. I thought this would be the same formula as Holy Fire, but this has a colored base and Holy Fire doesn't. Still has a great formula, looks like it has brushstrokes when first applied but they disappear upon dry down. Two coats. This is seriously epic and you need it.

The King of Hell is a fiery red metallic with a flash of gold. This applied really well considering how metallic it is. A tad brushstrokey but they aren't as apparent in person as they look in the swatch. Two coats for this gentleman.

Singer Auto Salvage has a murky greeny brown jelly base with gold holographic microglitter. Great formula, opaque on two coats. Dries gritty as most glitters do so use a thick top coat. Seems more yellow/brown in person, this one was tricky to capture. Of course I love this!

Baby has a black jelly base with silver holographic microglitter. Same formula as Singer Auto Salvage but more opaque, two coats here. Very blingy!

So ends the Men of Letters collection, next are the new "polish of the month" colors!

August 2016 a yellow-green holographic with holographic silver microglitter. Excellent formula, like all of the other polish of the month shades. Two coats

September 2016 a black holographic with holographic silver microglitter. Same formula as August, applies like butter and is opaque in two coats.

These polishes will be available for pre-order on Friday, August 26 at 11am EST on the Nine Zero website. The pre-order goes for a week, through Friday, September 2 at 11:59pm EST, with shipping starting September 6th. Prices very from $9 to $11 each, or purchase the full collection for $120 and save $6. August 2016 is available now for $11. September 2016 would normally go on sale in September, but she's releasing it the same day as the Men of Letters collection, also for $11. Be sure to let me know what you think of these shades! Are you a Supernatural fan??

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Celestial Cosmetics The Valyrio Collection and More Swatches & Review

Good day to you my friends, how's it going? I've had an interesting week, but things are hopefully calming down now haha. I've got a bunch of polishes from Celestial Cosmetics to show you today, courtesy of Color4Nails online nail polish store.

Press Sample

The first six polishes make up the Valyrio collection, inspired by Game of Thrones and designed by my awesome fellow blogger Chris from Serenity Nails! If you want to learn more about her inspirations for the polishes and what their names mean, please check out her post on the collection here.

Dracarys is a red linear holographic with golden highlights and red microglitter. This applied really well and was opaque in two coats. It's super fiery with the glitters and intense holo flame!

Kastamiro Damior is a blackened teal blue with shifting sparkle that ranges from teal to blue to purple. This one was thin and slightly runny, so I had to be slightly more careful with my application. Two coats. I have seen similar polish shades, but I think the twinkling of the glimmer bits in this makes it stand out.

Kirimvos is a slightly turquoise-y emerald green linear holographic with green opal translucent flakies. Ahh the good ol' days of flakies, we need more of them! This applied easily, but seemed a bit sheer on the first coat. But even so I just needed one more to get the depth of color in the bottle on my nails.

Daria Zaldrizoti is a vibrant pink to red to orange shimmer duochrome. This didn't have the most obvious shift in bright light, but it is apparent in lower light. This one was on the thinner side but I only needed two coats for opacity.

Lilagon is an earthy green shimmer metallic with gold to green duochrome properties. Another one I didn't find to be as shifty as one would normally imagine for a duochrome, but still quite beautiful. Slightly runny, but not as much as the teal shimmer. I will never not like this color of polish, it's so gorgeous to me!

Sesir Kipi is a gleaming mid-tone cobalt blue with green/gold shimmer and green flakes. Another awesome formula, two coats for full coverage. This is stunning, insanely pretty! Just a note, I had the slightest bit of a blue tinge on my cuticles when I removed this so it's possible it may stain. I always double up on my base coat for blues like this just in case.

The next three polishes are limited edition shades released a while ago, so you may not be able to find them as easily, my apologies.

Sweet Pea was the polish of the month shade for April 2016. This is a deep robust grape linear holographic with red to purple to gold shifting pigment, green shimmer, and scattered blue and green flakie bits. Fabulous formula, no issues at all, opaque in two coats.

Hawthorn is the LE edition shade for May 2016. It's a pearly pale pink holo with rose gold flakes and subtle red shimmer. This had really great opacity, quite surprising for such a light shade. Opaque in two coats, went on without fuss or streaks!

Celestial Dream is a summery purple linear holographic with pink microflake shimmer. Another fabulous formula, two coats. This shade was created for the brand's three year celebration, yay!

You can purchase Celestial Cosmetics nail polishes on the Color4Nails website. They range in price from $7 to $11.50. Let me know what you think of these lovely lacquers! And be sure to give Serenity Nails some love if you are digging the Valyrio shades! Happy Friday cookies :)

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.