Butter London Holiday Glitter Trio Set 2

 The Butter London Holiday Glitter Trio Set 2 consists of three sparkly polishes in purple, green and copper.  Not your traditional holiday colors, but extremely pretty!

Reviews and more pictures after the jump!

Butter London Shag

Be still my heart--a reddish copper foil with micro-glitter that's opaque and shiny in two effortless coats?  Yes, please!  That's Shag from Butter London, no more need be said (except that all swatches are two coats without top coat).

In the sun:

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Shag is available on Butter London's website and in some brick and mortar stores.

Butter London Scouse

Butter London describes Scouse as "sheer royal blue and indigo duochrome" but aside from a very tiny hint in the bottle, I don't see anything other than royal blue.  I'm fine with that, because I adore royal blue nail polish, and this one is glittery, shiny, easy to work with and reaches bottle color in three coats--what's not to love?  All swatches are three coats without top coat.

In the sun:

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

If you're looking for a duochrome, this one probably isn't it.  I'll keep it because I love the color and it's a quick way to brighten my nails.  Butter London polishes are available on their website and in some brick and mortar stores.

Butter London Bluey

Bluey doesn't know whether it's a black or blue!  It's a blackened blue jelly with bright blue micro-glitter and the formula is okay, but it was so very thin that it took four coats to be almost opaque and I think I could have done with five. :(  All swatches are four coats with no top coat.

Indoors without flash:

Indoors with flash:

In the sun:

Because of the lack of opacity, I'll either let Bluey go or try it layered over black.  It's part of Butter London's core line and available on their website and in some brick and mortar stores like Ulta and Nordstrom.

Butter London Fishwife

Fishwife is a pale, silvered sage linear holographic polish.  It hit bottle color in three coats, and the formula was surprisingly easy for a holo--smooth, no dragging, no bald spots, slightly thin but not awful, shiny without top coat, drying quickly and really really holographic, even in indoor light (although it's best in sunshine, of course!)

In the sun:

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Fishwife is US only, but I'm not sure where it's being sold other than the Butter London website, where it's $14 plus shipping.

Orly on HauteLook

Right now, and they have color-changing polishes I haven't seen before!  Click here (that's my referral link).

Dino Palmieri grand opening

Monday was quite horrible at work.  It's always bad when the boss is out of town, but it was really bad on Monday.  When I got home and sat down at my computer to check my e-mail, my mood went to the stratosphere immediately, because of an invitation from the lovely Erin at Zoya.  On Tuesday night, Zoya and  One were sponsoring a grand opening of a new Dino Palmieri salon at Eton Square in Woodmere, Ohio.

After work on Tuesday, which was thankfully less awful than Monday, I ran home, fed the dogs and headed out to Woodmere.  I laughed when I downloaded the directions, because Google Maps optimistically assured me that it took only 24 minutes to get from my house to Eton Square, travelling on Route 8 N and 271 N.  Hahahahaha.  Both are main arteries that fill up in both directions, and rush hour basically lasts from about 4 to about 7.  I allowed about 50 minutes, and got there about five minutes late.  When I arrived, I was greeted by Jayne from One, and then introduced to a woman from the salon whose name I forgot (I'm so sorry!) and then introduced to Jamie, who took my coat, got me a bottle of water (my choice, there was a full bar on offer) and then took me back to the blow-dry bar.

I hadn't heard of a blow-dry bar and had no idea that experiencing one was on the menu, but I loved, loved, loved it!  Dino Palmieri has massaging chairs at the shampoo bowls, and Jamie was charming and very good at his work.  I had a lovely shampoo and conditioning sitting in the massaging chair, and then Jamie and I talked the whole time he did my blowout.  We chatted about tech toys (he just got his first tablet) and hair products (I got in a plug for Skindecent's conditioner) and he praised my haircut, so I told him the story of how Amber and I met when I asked her to chop off 15 inches of my hair.

During:

After:

(that's Michelle of All Lacquered Up taking the pic)

Afterwards, there was a goodie bag so heavy I felt as if I was leaning to the left, a lovely spread of nibbles including little kabobs that were basically caprese salad on a stick, which I will have to do myself and a chance to meet other area bloggers and lots of wonderful Zoya folks.  I had the chance to tell Erin how she improved my Monday; got to meet Sarah, who is in charge of Zoya's Facebook presence; Rebecca, who comes up with the phenomenal Zoya colors; Michael; Leo and Zoya herself.  I was so excited by the chance to talk to all of these amazing folks that I totally forgot until I got home that Valerie Mayen from Season 8 of Project Runway was there somewhere and that there was a drawing for a huge goodie bag worth $1,500!  Absolutely worth it, though, to meet everyone and have such a wonderful experience.  My only down moment came when I had to leave early to come home and give Mouse his arthritis pill, but doggie health takes precedence over feeling like a princess.

If you'd like to see all of the pictures taken by the pro photographer, they are here: http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/26652222_jh6hsV#!i=2229353155&k=7wzTVxV

Thank you again to One, Dino Palmieri and Zoya for an amazing evening!

More pictures after the jump!

Zoya Dream Boxes--sale & free shipping!

Zoya Dream Boxes make color dreams a reality! Choose from 6 fashionably perfect pre-packs OR build your own* Dream Box as a holiday gift for friends, family, office parties or a personal treat - hey, you deserve it!

SPECIAL THANKSGIVING WEEKEND OFFER**
Zoya Dream Box Gift Sets - $20 (Reg. $24)

Offer includes free expedited shipping to make sure your gifts are delivered in time for the holidays!

use code: DREAM 

Valid NOW through 11/26/2012, 11:59 PM EST. 

*Excludes Zoya Gilty 
  

**Valid only on www.zoya.com. Continental US only. Not valid in conjunction with other coupons, codes or promotions. Available while supplies last. Consumer orders only. Returns or exchanges of promotional items not permitted. Art of Beauty is not responsible for incorrect addresses or credit card entry errors. Offer expires 11/26/12, 11:59 PM EST.

Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers!

And just a little tease of what's to come:

My Butter London haul!

Scouse, Fishwife, Shambolic, Jack the Lad, Bluey, Shag, and  Scuppered.

Color Club Port-folio

The only color I wanted from the In True Fashion collection was Port-folio, and it really was a dream come true.  The formula is flawless, opaque in two coats, shiny before top coat, neither too thick nor too thin and very easy to work with.  Plus, the color!  Deep purple shimmer with a strong lime green flash.  Let's just say I'm in love and move on to the pictures!  All swatches are two coats without top coat.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Color Club polishes are available at etailers and some brick and mortar stores.

Blue Cross candy shop scented nail polish set

When I saw G's post about the light-up bottles of nail polish from Blue Cross, I squeaked like a happy otter and made a resolution to grab at least one for myself.  Sadly, by the time I made it to a Rite Aid, the display was empty of everything but the conventional glitters.  All was not lost, however, because next to the sadly picked-over display was a display of pretty little scented mini polishes, 5 for $5.99!  I grabbed the one that was almost entirely milky jellies with glitter, and I'm really pleased that I did.

Here's the whole set:

Cute as a bunch of buttons, aren't they?

From left to right, blueberry swirl, chocolate cupcake, lollipop, strawberry and vanilla frosting

Indoors with flash, in the same order:

Indoors without flash, in the same order:

 In the sun, in the same order:

All swatches are three coats, which were needed to cover a few bald spots.

blueberry swirl is a milky turquoise jelly with multicolored diamond-shaped glitter.  The scent is just a generic sweet scent, not particularly strong and fairly unoffensive.  

chocolate cupcake is a milky lavender jelly with multicolored, irregularly shaped glitter.  This has the same generic sweet smell, which is a bummer if you're looking for chocolate-scented nails, but good for me because I can't stand artificial chocolate scents.

lollipop is a milky bubble-gum pink jelly with multicolored, irregularly shaped glitter with the same sweet scent.

strawberry is a milky neon pink with multicolored, irregular shapes.  This one smells like strawberry candy, with both sweet and tart berry notes.  This was the first one where I thought the scent really matched the name, and I love it.

vanilla frosting is a clear jelly with super-fine silver holographic micro-glitter.  The holo is really strong, and the scent smells exactly like buttercream frosting.  I adore this one!

One coat of vanilla frosting over Sensationail Purple Orchid, in the sun:

If you can find these at a Rite Aid, this is a cute set, and the polishes were perfectly well-behaved--no dripping, no pooling, only a bit of glitter-pushing needed (and none with vanilla frosting).  You can get this for yourself or as a gift, and the price is right.  Oh, and it's made in the USA, too! :)

Sensationail At Home Gel Polish kit

I got the full kit, with LED light, base & top coat, nail prep, cleanser and lint-free pads when it was on sale at CVS for $45.  I split the cost with Mom, and did her nails in the color that came with the kit, Rose Chiffon.  For myself, I bought a second color when they were on sale at Walgreens and I had a coupon, so the polish was $9 instead of $13.  I picked Purple Orchid, which is a greyed indigo.  It's similar to China Glaze First Class Ticket, although slightly more grey.  My application the first time left much to be desired, so please forgive the lumps and missing spots.  All swatches are one coat of the base/top coat, two coats of polish and another coat of base/top coat.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Thanks to a typical spell of NEO November weather, I wore this polish for a week before seeing it in the sun and realizing that it has blue and pink micro-glitter!

In the sun:

So far, there is no discernable wear, and I love the color and the way the gel polish makes my nails feel thicker and stronger.  Mom loves the way her nails feel too, but she's not crazy about the pink and she wouldn't let me take pictures of her manicure because she doesn't want anyone to see her hands.  I'm about to try a regular glitter polish over the gel polish to see if I can change up the look.  I saw that Siobhan of The Nail Phile did that once, but her blog is gone, so I can't look and see if she used cured polish or the kind that doesn't require curing.

I will update this post with my opinion of the removal process when I do it.

Anyway, if you have a drugstore or Sensationail coupon and don't have severe polish OCD, I can recommend this system.

China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection: Blue Bells Ring and Winter Holly

The last two polishes of the Holiday Joy collection are Blue Bells Ring, a royal blue foil, and Winter Holly, a hunter green and gold glitter.  Both applied well, were opaque in two coats, and are good but not at all unique.

Blue Bells Ring

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

In the sun:

Winter Holly, like most glitters, is matte without top coat.  The first pic is without top coat, the others have one coat of Zoya Armor.  The addition of the gold glitter does make the polish shift from a hunter green to more of a yellow green depending on the lighting.

Indoors with flash (no top coat):

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

 In the sun:

*sigh*  I'm still disappointed that the company that brought us Safari, Bohemian Chrome and other lovely collections gave us a 3/4 boring and dupe-able holiday collection.

The Holiday Joy collection is available now at etailers and brick and mortar stores.

China Glaze Holiday Joy collection: Glistening Snow, Angel Wings and Champagne Kisses

Now that we're past the reds, which make up almost half of the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection, I'll be posting the metallic glitters today and the tail end of the collection tomorrow.  All of today's polishes are gorgeous metallic holo micro-glitters suspended in a clear base.  All three were opaque in three coats, dried quickly and quite matte and were very easy to work with and somewhat more difficult to remove.  I think these three are the real stars of the collection, and I wish China Glaze had done twelve different colors in this finish.  All swatches are three coats without top coat, because I like the way they look like sanding sugar, but they gloss up quite nicely with top coat.

Glistening Snow is a silver holo micro-glitter.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

In the sun:

More pics after the jump!

China Glaze Holiday Joy collection: Pure Joy and Cranberry Splash

Today I have the other two reds from the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection.  Pure Joy is a red and gold glitter and Cranberry Splash is a medium red shimmer.

Although it looks orange in the pictures, Pure Joy is a mix of red and gold glitters.  This one is probably best as a layering polish, because it took three full coats to be opaque.  It wasn't overly thick, and I got a good amount of glitter in each stroke.  It dried matte, and very thirsty--you can see some lumps and bumps on my nails after just one coat of Nubar Diamont.  If I were wearing this on its own, I'd use a coat of Gelous first.  All pictures are three coats of polish with one coat of top coat.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

In the sun:

Cranberry Splash is a medium red shimmer which was opaque in two coats.  It's shows a few brush strokes, but that might be as much my application as the polish.  It's quite pretty and shiny, but very ordinary.  All swatches are two coats without top coat.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Again, I'm confused as to why China Glaze reverted to a holiday collection that is almost half reds.  It's as if they used up all their creative ideas earlier this year!

The Holiday Joy collection is available now at etailers and brick and mortar stores.

China Glaze Holiday Joy collection: The Red Crèmes

China Glaze's Holiday 2012 collection, Holiday Joy, consists of twelve polishes.  This includes three red crèmes, which I think is a lot, especially when there's also a red glitter and a red shimmer, but hey, I'm an English major, not a Marketing major, so on with the swatches!

Merry Berry is my favorite of these three, because it's a medium blue-based red.  The formula was flawless, no running, dripping, dragging or pooling.  All swatches are two coats with no top coat.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

 Red Satin and With Love after the jump!

Jessica Glamorama: Glitterati; Hot, Hot, Hot; and Magic Spell

The post in which I am disappointed four times. :(

First, that the Glamorama Posh Petites kit didn't have six polishes in it, which the text suggests, but three.  The next three disappointments were with the polishes themselves.  Pics and reviews after the jump.

Color Club Winter Affair Collection: Ho Ho Holly

Unlike the rest of the Winter Affair collection, which I got at Head2Toe Beauty, I grabbed Ho Ho Holly from my local Sally Beauty store.  I did this because I loved last year's Color Club/Sally collaboration, Scent-sual, and was bummed to find out that the scented versions of the Winter Affair polishes were Sally-only exclusives.  Ho Ho Holly was one I hadn't gotten online, because it looked pretty similar to Zoya Logan.  In fact, it is very similar--they're both green foils with yellow-gold highlights.  The only differences are that Logan is slightly darker, slightly sparklier and Ho Ho Holly is pine-scented.  For me, that means I'm keeping Ho Ho Holly, because I love me some pine scents!  All swatches are two coats with no top coat.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

Ho Ho Holly on index, middle and pinkie, 

Zoya Logan on ring,

two coats of each polish:

The unscented versions of the Winter Affair collection are now available at various etailers and the scented polishes are available now at Sally Beauty brick and mortar stores.

Logan was sent to me for review.  Ho Ho Holly was purchased by me.