CND Blackjack

I'm still getting my feet wet with the CND line.  I feel like I would benefit the most from the Effects line, because of the versatility, but before you have an Effect, you have to have a Colour.  I (not to terribly) recently purchased 3 CND Colours, and today I tried Blackjack.  Because I'm an idiot and deleted my camera pictures before copying them to my computer, I don't have a bottle picture anymore, but I have my sunshiney WHOA picture.


Why whoa?  Because this is BLACK.  I used Seche Natural for a base and just ONE coat of Blackjack to get this amazing creme opaque.  I was so shocked that it covered so well, so smooth, so quickly.  I didn't even use a top coat, but check out that shine!  I think this is my new black - I have two by another company, but I haven't even reviewed them yet, and I'm already calling this an easy winner.  I'm also sold on the bottle design - where most people would be upset about all that extra glass (empty space), I love how it in cases the polish.  Then again, I'm random like that.  I would definitely pick up Blackjack if you're looking for a great black to cover in one coat, and cover it well.

CND is available for $9 per colour, and $11 per effect and you can find locations to buy hereTransDesign and Head2ToeBeauty has the colours for $4.50 and effects for $5.50.

Piggy Paint Project Earth



Piggy Paint is a new brand to me, designed with kids in mind.  On April 1st, they released their "Project Earth" line, and sent me a sample to review (upcoming post).


Official press release as follows:
Piggy Paint is proud to introduce their new "Project Earth" line of nail polishes that are suited for young ladies who are concerned about Planet Earth.  There are 5 wild, neon colors, and even a glow-in-the-dark polish!  With names like "The Boyfriend Blues" and "Eat Your Peace", tweens are lovin' this eco-friendly, water-based alternative that dries to a hard, durable finish.  Piggy Paint Project Earth's odorless formula makes it perfect to use at sleepovers for hours of manis and pedis.  There's no need to worry about those harsh, stinky chemicals anymore!  Project Earth will be launching in conjunction with Piggy Paint's new, updated website April 1.


Piggy Paint can be purchased through their website: http://www.piggypaint.com

Piggy Paint "Solar Power"

Piggy Paint "Solar Power" was one of the neons from their Project Earth collection which is suited towards tweens.  If you have little girls, I really do recommend this polish since it is so free of chemicals.  Included in my box was a business card with the following instructions for wear:


Application Instructions
* Wash hands with soap and water.
*Apply 2-3 thin coats of Piggy Paint.
*Air dry 60 seconds
*For maximum chip resistance, blow dry polished nails for 1-2 minutes with hair dryer set on warm heat/low blower setting.


I almost wished they hadn't sent me a yellow, since yellows are the hardest colors to wear and make opaque, but I am working with what I have.  The first thing that stuck out to me was the fact that I loved this brush:
It wasn't too flat or round, all the bristles worked so well in harmony.  I was able to accurately get polish where I wanted it, without the brush getting bald spots or having polish run into my cuticles.  I did follow the instructions to the letter (no base coat, gasp!) especially since I wanted to see what they were working with.


Again, I can't really comment on the formula, but for a yellow, it wasn't too bad.  Here is in the shade, 2 coats:
You can definitely see a lot of VNL but for little girls and tweens, I don't see that being too big of a problem - hey we used highlighters to paint our nails when we were that young!


First I have a sun picture with 2 coats:
Then I added one more thin coat to see if that would make a difference:
To me, 3 coats just showed the matte more (as neons dry as a matte).  However, I was ultimately pleased with the formula and would like to purchase a few more colors to see if they also hold up.  I also want to check staining since they claim to be "Natural as Mud: non-toxic, odorless, kid-friendly."


Piggy Paint also sent me their Radioactive (glow in the dark) polish but that's a bit hard to photograph in the sun ^_^  I will attempt to get a night posting in.


Piggy Paint is available through their website [here].



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

Barielle Snap Dragon

shades by Barielle "Snap Dragon" was the odd duck to me in the Wildflower collection.  Barielle calls it a metallic sea foam green, and I must say, that's pretty dead on.  It was almost a chrome in my opinion as it applied a lot like the China Glaze Khrome collection.


I must say though, I had application issues.  The formula was pretty thick, and yet a thin coat left bald spots, so I just went with one thick coat and cleaned up my cuticles.  I used Seche Natural for my base, one coat of Snap Dragon and a coat of Seche Vite to hold it all in place.


Sun and shade picture to follow:
Brush strokes galore!  I had just buffed my nails a few days ago, so you don't see all the ridges, but as with all metallic/chromes, I highly suggest a ridge filler.





Barielle retails for $8/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.


Color Club Wild At Heart vs China Glaze LOL

With my sunshine fleeting, I wanted to quickly get a side by side of Color Club "Wild At Heart" and China Glaze "LOL".  Right off the bat, you can see from the bottles that these are not duplicates at all.  The Color Club bottle is a deeper purple and the holographic effect looks more like a glitter whereas China Glaze is a more blue purple with a pronounced rainbow holographic effect.


In the sun, you see the same result:


Oh the loveliness.  Sadly, in the shade, everything is dulled, but you can see the pigment difference in the two bottles.
Check out those amazing cuticles.  Yeah, I was in a super rush as you can tell.  I'm actually embarrassed by it!  I also need to start really investing in my cuticle oils - making sure that they are moisturized and pretty for you.



Color Club is located on several etailers, including Head2Toe Beauty [official website].

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