Potion Polish Magic of Christmas Collection Swatches & Review

I can't believe it's December y'all, it's been one crazy year! I've welcomed the snow and the cold weather, but I'm sure I'll be sick of it soon haha. Is it cold where you are? Any-who, I've got another awesome indie holiday collection for you today, it's the Potion Polish Magic of Christmas collection! And spoiler alert...it's my favorite collection they've ever done!

Press Sample

Christmas Cheer is a deep plummy purple with a blue sheen that shifts from a dark violet to a magenta cherry red to a cobalt blue with holographic flakes mixed in. This is a gorgeous shade and I was sad to take it off! Good formula, a touch on the runny side, but you get the right amount on your brush and you're set! This is two coats.

Snowmelt is a fosty winter blue with added silver flakes and a soft holographic effect. This formula knocked my wooly winter socks off! Effortless to paint with, opaque in just two coats!

Very Merry is a deep cranberry holographic with added twinkles of gold glitter. Stellar and super simple formula, two coats for coverage. This reminds me of a yummy bowl of cranberry sauce, with holo!

Define Naughty is a light creamy beige with a soft holographic effect. This shade was very easy to apply for such a light color, and it was more opaque than I expected! I used two coats here.

All Decked Out is a peachy warm rose gold jelly stuffed with holographic flakes. Nice and easy formula, no issues here. I found it looked great at two coats but you can make it even more opaque by using one more layer. Those holo sparks are dazzling eh?

Morning Mocha has a dark chocolatey base filled with strong copper shimmer and golden bronze chrome flakes. Another great formula, no fuss here! Two coats for full opacity. This guy dries a bit dull so you'll want a shiny top coat.

Even Santa Loves Pink is an adorable soft pink leaning slightly lavender holographic with gold accents. Can you believe it, this one is great too! Two easy dreamy coats. I'm head over heels for this, I always like pink at Christmas time!

Holly Bough is rich dark green holographic with some glimmery gold chrome flakes. It was very smooth and lovely, just glides on the nail. I used two coats here.

This collection is available now on the Potion Polish website. They range in price from $10.00 - $10.75 each. Let me know what you think of these shades! They really hit it out of the park for me, I'm in love with every shade!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Essie Winter 2016 Getting Groovy Collection Swatches & Review

Hi there, today I have a new collection from Essie to show you! The Winter 2016 Getting Groovy collection is inspired by the party scene in London during the "swinging sixties". The names are hilarious and take me right into an Austin Powers movie haha. Let's take a look at this six piece collection!

Press Sample

Getting Groovy is a metallic "palladium gold" foil. This formula was easy to apply but could gunk up against itself if you do too many brushstrokes. This covers in one coat, but I did two here.

Oh Behave! is a peach frost with gold shimmer. The formula was pretty thin but surprisingly not difficult to use. This is two coats.

Party On the Platform is a garnet red crème. Slightly thin formula, no difficulty though. Two coats on this guy. I would caution you against staining though, I had a tinge of red around my cuticles after I removed this.

Go With the Flowy is a pale dove gray with super subtle silver shimmer. This seemed a bit streaky but became opaque and even on the second coat. I kind of floated the second layer on, which I think helped from having the streaks reappear.

Satin Sister is a deep peacock blue jelly crème. Lovely to apply, but may also be a stainer. It's quite pigmented despite it's jelly-ish formula. Two coats for full opacity.

Ready to Boa is a dark bronzed mahogany shimmer. Excellent formula, opaque in one coat but I used two here.

This collection should be in stores pretty soon, if not already. Essie is available at most drugstores like CVS, along with Ulta Beauty and Walmart, as well as online at Essie.com. What are your thoughts on this winter set? Oh Behave! is a surprising favorite for me, it reminds me of older formula polishes which I love. Have a great week friends!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Cirque Colors Facets Collection Swatches & Review

Hey there! Cirque Colors has a new six piece collection of some crystal and gemstone inspired polishes, the Facets! These are all gorgeous pigmented shades filled with blingy holographic flakes.

Press Sample

Dioptase is a darkened blue-teal jelly crème with holographic flakes. This base is creamy but still technically a jelly I think, which that lends to being more opaque than a straight jelly. Two coats here.

Garnet is an opulent burgundy jelly with holographic flakes. This one seemed a bit uneven in some spots on two coats, so you may opt to use one more. This is super luxe, great for the fall season or holiday!

Paraiba is a vivid cyan-green jelly with holographic flakes. This surprised me, it's so bright and intense! A great formula, I used two coats here.

Smoky Quartz is a deep brown-black jelly with holographic flakes. This one was a nice opaque jelly, two coats. I think we've seen shades like this before, but the touch of brown here makes it a little more unique.

Morganite is a peachy pink jelly with holographic flakes. This was mostly flakes on the first layer, but it builds up to show off that rose gold base in three coats. This was almost blinding it was so sparkly in the sun!

Tanzanite is a brilliant "blurple" jelly crème with holographic flakes. A difficult color to capture 100% accurately but I think I came pretty close. This is another very pigmented, vivid shade that I love.

These shades are all now available on the Cirque Colors website for $13.00 each. I'm head over heels for this finish and the holo flakes! What do you think of these jewel toned lacquers? They also have a new six piece crème collection available now if that finish is more your style!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Guest Post by Very Emily: Sienna Byron Bay Nail Art

Good morning! I'm happy to share another awesome guest post from one of my amazing blogger friends, this time it's Belgium based nail artist Emily from Very Emily. She's become one of my closest friends and I'm so happy to have her work on my blog again!

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Hello everyone! My name is Emily aka Very Emily. I've been running my space on the internet almost as long as Kellie has, I think we started around the same time which has definitely created a bond between us. I've always looked up to her immensely so I am really honoured to be able to call her a friend, and to be here on her blog today (again!). She also kindly made a guest post for me when I was on holiday a few weeks ago, she totally killed it so if you didn't get a chance to check out her post you absolutely must! Anyway, without further ado let's take a look at what I came up with!

For my guest post I decided to use this set of 4 shades from a brand that's come onto my radar recently - Sienna Byron Bay. Based in Australia, this luxurious brand is all about the eco-friendly life, plus they have by far the prettiest bottles I have ever seen! I couldn't resist using them again, they are too pretty to hide away in my drawers so I've had them on display and was feeling very inspired.

I'm not quite sure what to call this design, but it reminds me of beautiful Mexican-style rugs for some reason. What do you think?! I started by roughly applying the four Sienna Byron Bay shades in Harmony, Ambrosia, Wategos and Utopia. It doesn't matter if it's not neat as we'll be covering up the line where the shades meet, so I intentionally applied them more organically. Then I used an ORLY Instant Artist striper in Crisp White to softly draw on strokes of white between each shade. Finished with a layer of glossy top coat.

This look is super simple and very quick to create but so much fun for Summer I think. I really hope you enjoy these! Thank you so much for having me Kellie, I hope you enjoy a much deserved break.

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Emily's links: BLOG | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE

I love the look that Emily created, it's simple but looks complex at the same time! The pastel shades she used are perfect for the warm weather. Please take a moment to check out her blog and instagram, if you haven't already, she is definitely someone to watch in the nail art world. Her talent and kind heart constantly impress and amaze me!

❤ Kellie

OPI Fall/Winter 2016 Washington D.C. Collection Swatches & Review

Happy Mani Monday everyone! I'm excited to bring to you the next great collection from OPI, the Washington D.C. collection for Fall/Winter 2016! Actress and fashion icon Kerry Washington has joined the OPI family as a Creative Ambassador recently and co-designed this collection with Cofounder and Creative Director Suzi Weiss-Fischmann. There are 12 regular shades and three limited edition colors, all crèmes save one that has a slight pearl shimmer, in dramatic and sophisticated tones. Let's jump in!

Press Sample

Image via OPI

CIA = Color Is Awesome is a dusky blue teal crème. This applied evenly and was really pigmented. This is two coats. I didn't have any staining with this shade when I wore it as well, which is great.

Freedom of Peach is a soft, warm peachy orange crème. The formula was great and I got full coverage in two coats.

Inside The ISABELLEtway is one of the limited edition "bonus" colors, a caramel malt brown crème. This formula is epicly good, basically a one coater! I used two as usual though.

Kerry Blossom is another limited edition shade, a dark plummy purple crème. Dries darker than it appears in the bottle, but not too dark. This is two coats, but you may need three if you're a stickler for very thin coats.

"Liv" in the Gray is the last limited edition polish, a dark grey crème with a tinge of green. This is an amazing one coat wonder! I used two coats like I always do though.

Madam President is a vivid magenta pinky red crème. Another fabulous formula, not too thick or thin. Almost a one coater, but two layers covered 100%.

Never A Dulles Moment is an interesting yellow crème, kind of sunshiney mustardy. OPI describes it as a "curry yellow". This was a tiny bit streaky on two coats, so I used three. It was better than I expected though for a yellow!

OPI By Popular Vote is a rich magenta berry-ish red crème. This one also had a great formula, opaque in two even coats.

Pale To The Chief is a "nearly nude" light beige with a very soft pearl finish. The first and second coats kinda pulled up the polish if I went over my strokes too much, so I recommend using a good amount of polish on your brush and doing the three stroke method. The third coat evened everything out for full coverage.

Shh...It's Top Secret! is a deep, dark espresso brown crème. This had an ok formula, I think you might need three coats if you do thinner layers than I do, but I used two.

Squeaker of The House is a cool, chocolate mousse brown crème. This almost has a slight purple tinge to it which is neat. This went on smooth and easy, almost a one coater but again I used two.

Stay Off The Lawn!! is a lush rainforest green crème. Excellent pigmentation and formula, a one coater! I used two here.

Suzi - The First Lady of Nails is a gorgeous olive green crème. Another awesome one, two coats. I love that there are two greens in this collection!

We The Female is a dark garnet red crème. I feel like a broken record, but this one is great too! Two easy, pigmented coats.

Yank My Doodle is a warm "tawny copper" crème. Another super great formula, only two coats. Dat name tho!

This collection will be available in August wherever OPI is sold, such as Ulta stores, Sally Beauty Supply, and professional salons. They retail for around $10 each. What do you think of this collection? If you're a crème fan, these are sure to be a dream come true for you! The formulas are seriously almost all amazing, the viscosity is excellent, neither thick or thin, and flowed on the nail like butter. I'm super impressed with this collection, even though the colors might not be groundbreaking in terms of uniqueness, they're all welcome to my stash! **EDIT: If you're looking for swatches of the two Ulta exclusives for this collection, see my review HERE!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Pastel Pet Names Collection Swatches & Review

Oh my, it's Monday again. I thought I'd try to brighten your day by sharing some fun, happy polishes with you! Australian indie brand Pretty Serious Cosmetics has a new installment in their Well Meaning But Ultimately Quite Awkward Pet Names collection, this time a set of six pastel crèmes.

Press Sample

Little Duckling is a sweet yellow pastel crème. This formula was a tiny bit streaky, but that is to be expected with a pale yellow. I used three coats here. It did apply better than I thought it would, pastels are notoriously difficult to work with but this was pretty average.

Fluffykins is a bubblegum pink pastel crème. I found this to be very thick and a little streaky. I needed three coats for this gal. I love this color, I wish the formula worked better for me.

Bunny-Foo-Foo is a minty blue pastel crème. This one was much better, had a thinner consistency and covered perfectly in two coats. And that name is seriously adorable!

Peachie Poo is a soft peachy orange pastel crème. This one was pretty thick, but I only needed two coats here and it wasn't as streaky as the pink shade.

Doodle Bug is a sky blue crème. This guy was thinner like the mint shade, it went on nice and easy. Two coats here. This color is so good! Sure to be a fan favorite.

Cutie Patootie is a pastel lavender purple crème. The formula was thick but easy to apply. This was almost opaque in one coat, but I used two for complete coverage.

These are sold at the moment, but they will be back in stock very soon on the Pretty Serious Cosmetics website. They all cost $9.95 AUD each. What do you think of this round of the Pet Names? I like all the colors, very classic pastels! Hope your week is excellent and we'll see ya again soon!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

OPI Retro Summer 2016 Collection Swatches & Review

OPI has brought us a small six piece collection for early summer this year called the Retro Summer collection! There are six polishes in muted tones that channel vintage summer fashion. Let's take a look!

Press Sample

Towel Me About It is a soft, pale yellow. These are all on the "crelly" side of the crème spectrum, thinner and less pigmented. I found this to be relatively easy to apply considering yellow shades tend to be difficult. Three coats. These all dry nice and shiny.

Flip Flops & Crop Tops is a medium strawberry milk pink crelly. This was one of the easiest polishes to apply in the collection, only two coats here.

Sailing & Nailing is a pale blue crelly. Another pretty good one, only two coats here as well. I get what they meant from the name of this, but it's pretty damn cheeky eh?

I'm Getting A Tan-gerine is a dusty peach-orange crelly. This one I found to be thin and streaky, needing at least three coats for full coverage.

What's the Double Scoop? is a baby pink crelly. Another thin and streaky gal, three coats here. I wish this applied better, because I love this color.

SPF XXX is an orangey coral crelly. This formula was the best in the bunch, more pigmented and very easy to put on. Opaque in two coats.

This collection is available now for around $10 per bottle at stores like Ulta, Sally Beauty Supply, and professional salons. What do you think of this mid-season selection? I like how the colors look together, but I'm not head over heels. My favorite has to be SPF XXX and I also enjoyed Towel Me About It.

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.