Native War Paints Shy Violet

Press Sample
I'm still working my way through all my Cosmoprof footage which includes items from the 2016 Cocktails and Colors indie event. While there, I chatted a little with the owners of Native War Paints. This husband and wife duo were HILARIOUS. As we were winding down the night, Mr. NWP pointed to the display of polishes and said "Take one." It was like the angels were singing. I immediately went for a purple... which I was wearing a purple shirt with purple nail polish on and oh yes, my purple hair. If you have any doubt if I like purple... What I couldn't tell at the time is that this beauty, aptly named Shy Violet has a gorgeous gold shimmer running through it.

I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and finished with Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That top coat. The formula was very nice - I was worried at first because the shimmer almost had a pearl-like effect with the first coat and I was afraid this would be a brush stroke mess. Instead, the second coat and drying erased the look of any brush strokes which was great come top coat time. Being a neon, this does dry matte and top coat brings out the best in the shimmer. Additionally, this polish is from the Mrs. White Neon Brites and so I'm told that they watermarble beautifully.

I absolutely love this color. Now you can just barely see some VNL on a few nails but for the most part, it's opaque. In person, the shimmer hides any VNL so I'm a happy camper. I feel like I've had some crazy nails lately but the purple makes me smile.

Native War Paints may be purchased through their website. Join the conversation on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Use #nativewarpaints to find other fans!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration. For more information, please read this post.

Anchor & Heart The Vivacious

Nothing To Disclose

I'm back! Last week I was at Cosmoprof North America 2016 and if you checked my Instagram or Facebook, I saw a LOT of things. I'm still working through to decompress through all the paperwork and photos I took but today I wanted to show off an indie brand that I stumbled upon through Facebook.

Anchor & Heart Lacquer is based out of Portland, Maine, which you know is a bit dear to my heart. My husband was born and still has family just south of Portland so I feel like I'm being a bit of fan girl when I buy from a Maine company. Owner Taryn Jade has a wide range of colors and during a recent sale on her Etsy site, I picked up The Vivacious, a berry shade with a subtle holo and gold shimmer. This shade is from the My Friends, My Anchors collection.

I used a base coat of OPI Nail Envy in Hawaiian Orchid. If you recall, last summer OPI decided to tint their strengthening treatment. You can wear the base alone with 2 coats, but I just used one because I was originally going to wear a different color altogether today. While Hawaiian Orchid is a bit of a dusty rose shade, it did not affect my wear for The Vivacious. I used 2 coats of The Vivacious over and then topped using Anonymous Lacquer's Fast Dry Top Coat called With A Quickness that I received at the Cocktails and Colors 2016 event in Las Vegas. I was super happy that the formula on The Vivacious was smooth, didn't run or pool, and spread evenly with the flat brush.

This shade can lean pink or berry depending on your skin tone and lighting. As you can see in the bottle, there's a scattered holo and gold shimmer running throughout the formula. In the shade, I could see the strong shimmer. In the sun, it was just enough holo to make me stare at my nails while flexing my fingers. Come on, we've all done it. One thing I have noticed is that the top coat I'm using, while making the polish shiny, did not completely cover all the properties of this polish. My thumb isn't glass smooth like I prefer - it's not bumpy like a texture polish and I'm not catching lint on it or anything, but there's just a very small grit to the polish that I've noticed. I'm not sure if it's the formula itself or the combination of me trying a new top coat. It's not enough to bother me by any means though.

Also I'm trying a new nail shape! I changed to squoval in summer 2011 after having a more rounded look prior to that. While I was in Las Vegas, I received an essie gel coutour manicure by Jolene Canzoneri Brodeur [website | instagram] and she asked if she could file my nails to a different shape. Since Jolene is a celebrity/entertainment/editorial/commerical nail artist, I was going to take her advice and she gave me this soft almond look. I cannot tell you how many compliments I've received from my fellow bloggers on the new nail shape. It's growing on me as it does elongate my nail beds and give me a very feminine look. On the practical side, I didn't break one nail in Vegas, coming home, or my first week back at work and that's saying something!

So back to Anchor & Heart - so far, I'm happy!I have one other shade that I purchased which seems super office appropriate and I may wear to my next big meeting. The Vivacious may be purchased in her Etsy shop for $9.50. I purchased during her 4th of July sale for a 15% discount.

Anchor & Heart may be purchased on Etsy. Join the social conversation on Facebook and Instagram. Use #anchorheartlacquer or #AHLnailmail to share with other AHL lovers!

China Glaze Sally Beauty Supply Exclusive 2015

Nothing To Disclose
A couple of weeks ago on Facebook, someone posted about finding new glitters at Sally Beauty Supply so of course, I had to find out more! So last year, you may remember that China Glaze quietly released a set of 6 polishes that were Ulta exclusive: Ultra-Violet, Be Bright Back, Sweet Talk To Me, Cons-Ulta my Manicurist, Diamond In The Rough, and Golden Seal. 

This year, China Glaze has released a set of 8 glitters that are Sally Beauty Supply exclusive! They were quietly added into the China Glaze core line when Sally Beauty Supply remodeled their nails section into the "Nail Studio". They are not limited edition, so feel free to snatch them when you can.

The colors are:

You're Too Sweet

Light pink microglitter in a clear base with rainbow reflective microglitter.

Turn Up The Heat

Magenta, light pink and purple small glitter in a slightly tinted base.

Counting Carats

Gold microglitter with small gold glitter and rainbow reflective microglitter in a clear base.

Pick Me Up Purple

Small lilac glitter with rainbow reflective microglitter in a clear base.

Can You Sea Me?

Light blue microglitter with small rainbow reflective glitter in a slightly tinted base.

Give Me The Green Light!

Aqua and grass green microglitter in a slightly tinted base. Dries matte. Swatch stick has top coat but this is a hungry glitter that eats top coat.

Star Hopping

Dark navy blue and silver microglitter with rainbow reflective microglitter in slightly dark tinted base.

Silver of Sorts

Small and medium silver glitter in a clear base.

Obviously, these aren't the official polish descriptions and rather what I just see with my eyes. I also swatched all polishes on sticks for my Cup O Sticks - 2 coats each with a top coat. I'm still not sure how I want to wear some of these - with a pretty nude undie? By themselves? All polishes were pretty much opaque in just 2 coats, so you can wear them alone but removal might not be as much fun.

What colors stand out to you the most? I really liked You're Too Sweet, Give Me The Green Light! and Silver of Sorts.

China Glaze [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] can be found online through several etailers, however, this collection is exclusive to Sally's Beauty Supply.

Chaos & Crocodiles Nail Art with Subterfuge & Sleeper Cell

Nothing To Disclose
I got to meet the sweetheart behind the indie brand Chaos & Crocodiles last summer in Vegas, and slightly before I went, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pre-order of the Secret Agent Collection, a set of 10 holographic polishes that came in a gold-foiled cardboard box with a foam insert. Frankly, it was fantastic. 

In October, with my alma mater's Homecoming fast approaching, I decided to pull out Subterfuge (gold) and Sleeper Cell (blue) in a great homage to my school's colors. Now, since I'm not the best at nail art, I knew it had to be simple and what looks amazing but is simple? NAIL VINYLS!

I had received a bunch of nail vinyls from KBShimmer, so I chose a scalloped lines design and decided to just go crazy on my accent nail. Now because I was in a huge rush, I decided to top my nails with a gel top coat (cured in a LED lamp) which caused a little wrinkling but nothing terrible.

For Subterfuge and Sleeper Cell, I used 2 coats of polish for both.

HELLO HOLO. I was a huge fan of this manicure and ended up wearing it for days.

In the shade, the holo disappeared but at least you can see the scalloped design better (and the wrinkling).

Either way, I was a happy camper and will definitely be repeating this combination for Homecoming 2015. It helps that I live in the same town that I went to college in, hah!

Chaos & Crocodiles can be purchased on her website. Prices range from $10 to $12.50. You can like her on Facebook, follow on Twitter and follow on Instagram as well.

FingerPaints Metallic Moondust

Press Sample 
Back in March, FingerPaints announced a limited edition collection of intense glitter chrome polishes with textured glitter. Today I have Metallic Moondust to share. This green, gold and silver mix is an interesting combination in my collection.

I used a base coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter A-Peel, 2 coats of polish and no top coat. My brush was super "fluffy" which aided in the glitter application.

As you can see, the 2 coats was perfectly fine for full coverage without any bald spots. I was quite surprised how well it did apply.

In the shade you can really see the different glitters appear. This combination gives the polish almost a 3D effect in person and in photos.

Hiding out in some indirect light and you can see how this polish is a bit rough (textured). I always feels weird when I run my hands through my hair, but otherwise it's neat to wear.

FingerPaints [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Blog]  is found exclusively at Sally Beauty Supply. Cost is $5.99 per bottle or $5.49 for Beauty Club Card holders.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

China Glaze Choo-Choo Choose You

 Nothing To Disclose
Yesterday, I walked into a Sally Beauty Supply to kill some time before lunch and spied two FULL displays from China Glaze. One was The Giver (the Limited Edition 12 piece line that ties in with the movie) AND All Aboard - the 12 piece fall 2014 collection. I literally started grabbing with both hands before I decided to be civil and get a basket.

I had mentioned in my CPNA posting that I thought Choo-Choo Choose You would be my standout from the Fall 2014 All Aboard collection - from the bottle I had seen, it looked like this dusty purple with a shimmer to it.  Imagine my face when I saw it in Sally Beauty and it's this almost Barney purple with this ridiculously amazing gold to green to amber shimmer shift in certain lights. Hello.

I started with a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish, and finished with Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That.

Check this out. It's almost like this pretty orchid with this amber gold shimmer overlay. All in one bottle? Yep.

Or it's this dusty pretty purple with a green to gold to amber shift!

Or it's a shimmery rose amber with dusty purple under!

Or it's this greeny gold shimmer.

Overall, it's beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful.

China Glaze [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty, Sally's Beauty Supply as well as TransDesign.

CrowsToes Bad Catholic

Nothing To Disclose
Back in March, I FINALLY got my hands on A Box, Indied by llarowe. Some months go like HOTCAKES and others have a few extras to sell. I don't recall what happened back in March but I was glad to get my hands on it.

Inside my box included a bottle of CrowsToes Bad Catholic. I have a few bottles of CrowsToes that I've purchased over the years but haven't reviewed them on PolishGalore before. No real reason - just haven't gotten around to "that" section of my polish. ("That" being indies - I've been VERY picky on the indies I buy, and then very careful of those indies - not wanting to let anyone borrow them or basically, see them.)

Back to the polish. This was a part of the Mardi Gras theme - hence the name. I am Catholic, and have been a bad one from time to time (hah) but I'm actually in good standing with the Church now (Mr PG had to go through an annulment before we could get married in the Church this past May). ANYWAY - polish!

I started with a base coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter A-Peel before deciding that I didn't want to wear this polish bare. I left my pinkie clear so I could see how well the polish applied but on the rest of my nails, I used one thin coat of Cult Nails Tempest.

I ended up only having to use ONE coat of Bad Catholic to achieve the photos you see below. I was quite pleased. To smooth the top and add shine, I used Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That.

The madness! Check out all this glitter goodness with ONE coat. I didn't have to go fishing for glitter either. Now I did use the dab method where you dab the polish on to the nail first, then use one swipe to smooth it out. There is a variety of small round, medium round, and larger hexagonal glitter in purple, green and gold in a clear base. Absolutely perfect for Fat Tuesday.

I was super surprised in the shade - you can see that polish holds up well with some reflective properties without being mirror like or taco curling.

Finally in some indirect light (and in need of some cuticle oil!) - I was actually really happy with this polish. Now I'm not sure how much I'd wear it OTHER than Fat Tuesday just because it does remind me of Mardi Gras, but it's enough to make me want to keep the polish in my stash.

CrowsToes can be purchased in the USA through Llarowe or Overall Beauty for $13 and a few other places overseas. Join them on Facebook and follow on Instagram.

LVX Alchemy

Press Sample
From last year's Winter Resort Collection, LVX came out with a beautiful metallic-like shimmer gold - Alchemy. Now, you know how I feel about gold - it's pretty but not on my skin. Regardless, I was happy to see this line come out with a gold for those who do rock the look.

I used a base of Cult Nails Get It On, 2 coats of polish and Cult Nails Wicked Fast to top. The formula was very good on this bottle - no streaks or pulling and no flooding in the cuticles.

You might feel more comfortable wearing a ridge filling base coat with this polish if you have deep ridges but for the most part, I found this polish very easy to wear. 

LVX [Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram] is available on their website. It is 10-free to include Toluene and Camphor, vegan and cruelty free. Use promo code POLISHGALORE for 20% off your purchase!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

NOTD: 24 October 2013

Press Sample 
I finally updated my polish spreadsheet earlier this week when I couldn't sleep and realized I have a LOT of nail polish. Additionally, I have a lot of nail polish that I haven't worn. So a few nights ago I decided to just randomly grab a color and GO.
I had a base coat of Cult Nails Get It On when I decided to grab Morgan Taylor Bronzed & Beautiful, a metallic gold polish. I used two coats and realized metallic gold and I don't go well together. The polish was fantastic - great formula, didn't pool in my cuticles, nice opacity... but my skin tone and gold? Nah.
So I decided to add dots! I can do this. I used Morgan Taylor Lost In Paradise a beautiful Tiffany blue creme. I placed a drop of polish on a plastic nail wheel and dipped my essence dotting tool to add random dots on my ring finger. Okay, not bad - but I just wasn't feeling the dots. The blue didn't pop against the gold as well as I hoped. I topped my manicure with Cult Nails Wicked Fast and decided to sit awhile and think about what I could do when it hit me.
I have a tiny striper brush in my ORLY Instant Artist polish! Now this was apart of the Nail Art Society relaunch kit and it's a funky but awesome concept. The polish (or paint as they call it) is water based so if you mess up, you can just wipe it off with water. Oh yes, you heard me right. Also it's super opaque (which is SO RARE) and then it's a thin brush so you can really draw some lines. So I decided to draw lines around my dots and BAM a leopard mani that Snooki would be proud of.
I attempted to photograph this today but I learned that I've gone WAY too long without taking photos and just about every single one was blurry. Lame.  But I did get this.

Yay! I was actually really proud of this manicure. I was even able to paint my Cinderella hand with the accent too. That's saying something.
PS: Super cool random fact, this is my 1500 post on PolishGalore! Yay milestone!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

China Glaze Bat My Eyes

Press Sample 
Today I have for you Bat My Eyes from the Monsters Ball (Halloween) collection from China Glaze. The name totally throws me, because when I think of "bat my eyes", I think of a pin up girl with long eye lashes and dark black mascara. This polish, however does not remind me of bats or eyes but hey, not every name can be a winner. (Sorry!)

This is a gold glitter in a slightly black base but not so much that the glitter gets eaten by the base. I used a base of Cult Nails Get It On, 2 coats of polish and a top of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

So yeah, check this out - it's pretty awesome! There's even a little bit of yellow bar glitter in there but that gets sucked in the base coat. I was pretty impressed by the opacity in 2 coats.

Same story in the shade - it's almost like a jelly which is pretty cool.

Ta da! I was actually very happy with this polish and I can see myself wearing it again. It's a great color for Halloween and I could maybe see this working for fall otherwise - maybe as a funky French!

China Glaze [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty, Sally's Beauty Supply as well as TransDesign.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

JulieG Ornamental

Only two lovely polishes left in the Holiday Collection from JulieG and this is Ornamental, a gold shimmer. Now granted, I have lots of gold shimmers and gold honestly isn't my thing. But it's not always about me - it's about the polish. I used a base coat of Poshe and 2 coats of polish. Again, no top coat because I wanted to play with these polishes quickly. 

So I'm a bit lame and only got a sun (kinda) photo but you can see that it's a pretty, full coverage polish in just 2 coats. Super lovely, the price is so right at $4, and well, if you're into gold shimmers, here's a great one!

You can purchase JulieG in Rite Aid stores across the US or shop online at Jesse's Girl Cosmetics which ships worldwide!  JulieG sells for $3.99 for a 0.35 fl oz (10 mL) bottle.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.