Author: RiaG

Color Club – East Austin

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This delicious, almost neon, peachy bomb of a creme is Color Club East Austin from their Fall 2013 Girl About Town collection. This color is absolutely gorgeous! On the photo it looks like it gave me lobster hands but that is just the camera freaking out with the brightness of this shade. In real life it actually made my winter pale hands look almost tanned. This is a perfect shade for a snowy and sunny winter day too!

Like the other two cremes from the same collection this has good formula and application. A little streaky on the first coat and evened out perfectly with the second. This was a tiny bit thinner than the other two cremes and since my nails are so long I added a third coat. Top coat is of course HK Girl.

 

 

 

 

***East Austin was sent for review.  I don’t benefit from clicking the link on this post.

Femme Fatale – Witchful Thinking

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Happy Sunday! Here’s another Femme Fatale polish for you. I decided to use their glitter topper Witchful Thinking over my Maddening Whispers manicure I showed you the other day.

Here’s how this polish is described on Femme Fatale website: “A clear based glitter topper filled with gunmetal, black, charcoal and silver glitters in various sizes/shapes and accented with a stunning lavender shimmer and violet iridescence. We recommend using over a darker base colour to enhance the shimmer”.

This is very packed with glitter so I found it easiest to apply the first coat normally and dab on the second coat. That way I really had no issues with application. I also used two coats of top coat to make sure the result was smooth. This polish has an awesome metallic look to it and it looked really cool in real life! Unfortunately all the sparkle this polish has didn’t show up on the photos.

Femme Fatale polishes and cosmetics can be bought from their website where you can also find a list of international stockists. You can follow Femme Fatale on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For this manicure I used two coats of Maddening Whispers, two coats of Witchful Thinking and two coats HK Girl top coat.

 

 

 ***Witchful Thingking and Maddening Whispers were sent for review. HK Girl was gifted to me. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

OPI Liquid Sand – Emotions

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When I saw the first swatch photos of  textured sand-y looking polishes I thought they definitely aren’t for me. Then I tried one and I fell in love. There’s so much variety on these that you don’t get tired of them immediately either. Different brands, blingy, matte or glittery finishes. Even the roughness of the finish/texture can be different.

This time I used OPI Liquid Sand Emotions from the Mariah Carey Holiday 2013 collection. Black liquid sand with black glitter. Very elegant and beautiful shade. Easy application and two coats was enough for an opaque result. With the first coat this seemed quite sheer but the second coat gave perfect coverage. This dries quite rough, but not annoyingly rough. The texture brings certain softness to the black polish and in a dim light my nails even looked velvety smooth.

 

 

 

***Emotions was sent for review.  I don’t benefit from clicking the link on this post.

Femme Fatale – Maddening Whispers

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Today I have another stunning Femme Fatale beauty for you. This is Maddening Whispers, a purple linear holo with a green glow. Unfortunately there isn’t any sun here at the land of endless rain and mud *sigh* at the moment. That means I couldn’t get the holo effect to show as strong as sun would have made it. The green glow also doesn’t show up in the photos but is visible in real life. Bottle shot also shows that pretty well. All in all this polish is super beautiful!

Formula is excellent. Two easy coats were enough for opaque result and dry time was quick. This dries very smooth so one coat of top coat was enough.

Femme Fatale polishes and cosmetics can be bought from their website where you can also find a list of international stockists. You can follow Femme Fatale on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For this manicure I used two coats of Maddening Whispers and HK Girl top coat.

 

 

***Maddening Whispers was sent for review. HK Girl was gifted to me. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

piCture pOlish – Kryptonite

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So here we are, first post of 2014. Let’s get this party started with one of my biggest lemmings of 2013, piCture pOlish Kryptonite. I was drooling over this for most of the year and for some reason I ended up waiting till the end of the year to get it. But it’s mine now and I couldn’t be happier!! This is one of the most awesome greens ever. Could even be the best green ever made! Perfection in a bottle!!

This is a deep green jelly with a subtle scattered holo effect, a lot of shimmer and tiny flakies. The formula on this is just perfect. I applied three smooth and easy coats, with shorter nails you can get away with two coats. Dry time was also quick. I love this shade to death! It is so beautiful!

On this manicure I used three coats of Kryptonite with HK Girl top coat.

In Europe piCture pOlish is also available at Norway Nails. Use the code POLISHAHOLIC for -10% off.

 

***Kryptonite was purchased by me. HK Girl was gifted to me. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post or use of the discount code.

 

New Year’s Eve Jindiefest!

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Hello everyone!! I want to celebrate New Year’s Eve by showing you some nail polish swatches of my favorite indie brand, Jindie Nails. These are all older polishes and I believe most, if not all are still available.

Application and formula on all of these was good. Swatching these reminded me once again why I love Jindies so much. All of these are different and still there is this Jindie look and feeling to them :) Jindie Nails polishes are available at jindienails.com and international customers can find the stockists by clicking here.

Usual indie glitter application instructions apply.

– Make sure polish is well mixed before the application
– To help getting the bigger glitter pieces out of the bottle it’s recommended to turn the bottle upside down for a bit
– Let each coat dry for a bit before applying the next to avoid dragging the bigger glitter pieces from the previous coat.
– You can use a dotting tool or an orangewood stick to place/separate the glitter if necessary.
– You might want to use a product like Glitter Food or two coats of top coat for a smoother result.

And remember that the application on these glitter bomb indies is not always as easy as your regular nail polish. To get smooth and beautiful result might sometimes take some practice. I know I didn’t always get it right for the first times I tried applying chunky glitter bombs :)

Top coat on all these manicures is of course HK Girl. So here we go!

 

Candy Land Remix (three coats and two coats of top coat)
Zomboy (two coats and  top coat)
Swoon (three thin coats and top coat)
Pretty Penny (three coats, no undies and top coat)
Moon Walk LE (two coats and two coats of top coat)
Live Out Loud (three coats and top coat)
Water 4 Elephants (two coats with two coats of top coat)
Femme Fire (two coats with two coats of top coat)
I have now swatched all but one Jindie Nails polishes I own. I love all my Jindies and can’t wait to see what Jen has up her sleeve for 2014!
***Zomboy and Candy Land Remix were sent for review. Femme Fire and Water 4 Elephants were gifted to me. Live Out Loud, Pretty Penny, Swoon and Moon Walk LE were purchased by me. HK Girl top coat was gifted to me.

Year 2013 – The beginning of my indie polish addiction

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Year 2013 has really been mostly about indie polish for me and my blog. Last year around this time I placed my first orders for indies and received the bottles early Jan 2013. At that point I had no idea of how many indie polishes I’d end up swatching as the year went on. It’s been such exciting and fun nail polish year for me. I have met some awesome people online and tried many different brands. I started my year being an indie polish newbie and now I have about 170 bottles of indies and the count keeps going up.

So now as we are almost at the end of the year I think it’s a good time to look back on how my indie polish addiction started, what were my first bottles and the memories they bring to mind.

 

It all started with this, Different Dimension Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty.

 

Different Dimension Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty

 

This was the very first indie polish order for me ever. I got this polish along with Social Suicide from Different Dimension’s store. This was also the first indie polish I ever tried on my nails. I love Big Bang Theory so I mostly got this one for the name and I also ended up really liking the soft and smooth look of this polish. Trying it on now after so many other indies I have tried, it brings back nice memories and I actually like it just as much as I did the first time I tried it. It was a great pick for my first indie. Awesome name, good and easy application and great quality.

Another nice memory I have is from the New Year’s Eve night. I was just staying at home and relaxing. Got the kiddos to bed and opened a bottle of strawberry sparkling wine. I was babbling in Twitter with some other nail polish enthusiasts when The PolishAholic Jen posted a photo of an amazing combo of a creme and a glitter topper. The polishes were Elevation Polish Pic de Sotllo and Stay Behind, Catch a Wave. I was drooling at the photo and then quickly clicked myself to the Elevation Polish store (along with some other people) to buy those two polishes. I used both of the polishes but never actually did the combo I bought them for so I thought this would also be a good time to do that too.

 

Elevation Polish Pic de Sotllo with Elevation Polish Stay Behind, Catch a Wave

This is not the greatest photo. The amazing sparkle and glow this glitter has was quite hard to capture. Either way I’m still very happy I bought them and they also looked just as beautiful as I remembered. These two definitely hold a special place on my collection.

The straw that broke the camel’s back when it comes to indies and a point of no turning back was Jindie Nails Barney Blew Up. I saw the first photos of this cutie and I just had to have it. Such a cute polish with an adorable name. Irresistible!

So it was time to attend my first indie restock. I was sitting in front of my laptop at least 15 mins before the restock time staring at Jindie Nails Etsy store front page. As I said this was my first restock and I was a little uncertain of how it was going to happen. All I knew was that some Jindies can sell out and sell out FAST. So I was updating the page (bad me, I know) and anxiously waiting for Barney Blew Up to appear. It finally showed up and I clicked it to the cart and paid it superfast cos on Etsy you can get cartjacked. This was the first restock for Barney Blew Up and it sold out fast! I was so very proud that I was able to score such an awesome Jindie from my first restock. The stress and excitement was breath taking :D The memory of that still makes me smile :)

 

Jindie Nails Barney Blew Up

 

Jennifer saw my swatches of Barney Blew Up and we went on from there. I have now swatched countless (well 58 bottles to be exact) Jindies and I have loved each and every one of them ♥

Barney Blew Up will always be one of my favorite indie polishes  :)

I also bought some other indie polishes along with the ones mentioned here but when I look back to where it all started from, these are the first ones that come to mind. The ones that started this awesome adventure in indie polish land!

Cult Nails – I Got Distracted

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Here’s a perfect polish for New Year’s Eve celebration for those of you who love dark nail polish. Cult Nails I Got Distracted is black jelly with green glitter and holographic shimmer/microglitter. Very beautiful and sparkly!

Formula was good and application was easy. Tiny bit of balding on the first coat but everything evened out perfectly with the second coat. Dry time was also quick. Very good quality polish. This dries a little rough so you’ll definitely need to use a top coat with this one though.

For this manicure I used two coats of I Got Distracted and HK Girl top coat (This is also now available on Norway Nails).

Cult Nails polishes are available for European customers at Norway Nails. You can use the code “POLISHAHOLIC” to get -10% off of any purchase. Norway Nails offers a wide range of gorgeous indies and other polish brands. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

 

***I Got Distracted was sent for review, HK Girl was gifted to me me. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post or use of the discount code in any way.

My favorite nail product of the year – Glisten & Glow HK Girl

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For me one product is clearly above the others and that is Glisten & Glow’s HK Girl Fast Drying + Super Shiny top coat. I tried it for the first time in March and I’ve been hooked since then. I use it with most of my manicures. It makes my nail polish life so much easier and I totally love it!

 

 

SO WHY DO I LOVE HK GIRL SO MUCH?

– It’s thin and easy to apply.
– Shine is superior to the other fast drying top coats I have tried.
– Dries at least as fast if not faster than other fast drying top coats I have tried.
– Does not shrink the polish.
– I have never experienced bubbling using this top coat.
– Applies so smoothly that I use it with stamping and nail art too.
– Works great for refreshing a few days old manicure. Brings the shine right back on!
– Doesn’t dull the holo effect like some top coats can do.
– Intense colors, sparkling glitters and glowing shimmer just look better with this top coat.
– Does NOT thicken in the bottle!! I have used several bottles to the last drop without using thinner once!

…and is there anything I don’t like about this top coat?

– Nope, not a thing! (Unless I count the fact that I only have one unopened bottle left!)

So if you haven’t tried this top coat yet I suggest you do so soon! It truly is an excellent top coat and to me it’s the best top coat out there!

You can buy HK Girl straight from Glisten & Glow or stockists like Mei Mei’s Signatures, Norway Nails, Overall Beauty and few others.

 

 

***Some of the HK Girl bottles I have used I bought and some were gifted to me. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.