PolishGalore at PolishCon

Nothing To Disclose
Where on earth did September go? At work, I'm already into Halloween mode and moving towards the holidays and on my desk at home, I have winter lines from several polish companies filling my available room. I always feel busy but I think fall and winter are my absolutely busiest times and I'm feeling the rush. What I'm also feeling is the fact that I'm going to Chicago tomorrow morning!

The Polish Convention [Facebook Event | Facebook Group | Twitter | Instagram] is a joint effort from Ever After Polish and Great Lakes Lacquer to bring Indies together in Chicago for one great night of polish fun, shopping, and tutorials. All the brands attending are indies - most well established but one lucky maker - NeVerMind Polish will be debuting at the convention.

The Polished Pathology has a wickedly amazing, extremely detailed list of each indie, and swatches of their limited edition and event exclusive polishes here.

The tutorial tables are really interested and I think are going to be really neat. Think mini-workshops, but you didn't have to pay extra. The sign ups for the tables happened earlier in the month and while all tables are currently full, I hope you can float around and watch from a distance. There's also talk about showing via projector in the ballroom and/or Facebook Live.

AND I am proud to announce that I will be at the Convention, covering for Nail It Magazine! I will be submitting a digital article after the event as well as a live Instagram Takeover during the event. I do believe it will be on IG only, not the IG Story, so I hope to post more to my IG Story and of course, I'll be posting to my Instagram as well. Check #PolishCon and #PolishCon2016 for all photos from the different makers, bloggers, and other attendees.

If you're heading out to PolishCon, please say hi. I love meeting new people or seeing old friends a second time. It's going to be a quick trip - less than 24 hours in Chicago, but I'm excited and looking forward to seeing the Inaugural PolishCon! 

New Beauty Releases & Blog Hop Giveaway!

Today I've joined up with 16 other beauty bloggers to do a fun blog hop GIVEAWAY! If you are unfamiliar what a blog hop is, it's pretty simple. Each lady in the hop is giving away something (beauty-related) on their own blog and you can click through from one blog to another, entering the giveaways as you go, until you end up back where you started -- right here at my blog. Once you do that, you've completed the loop!

The best part is -- besides having a chance to win 17 different beauty products -- after the giveaway has ended and we've all selected winners....ONE very lucky person among the winners will get the GRAND PRIZE of a $300 gift card to either Sephora or Ulta (winner's choice!). Just in time for limited edition holiday releases! *wink wink*

So if you want to up your chance of winning that sweet shopping spree, be sure to jump to each blog in the loop and enter the giveaways. Make sure you follow ALL the rules of each giveaway so you won't be disqualified! This giveaway loop will run for 2 weeks, ending on September 14th at 11:59pm EST and is only open to those within the USA and Canada.

Ready to start hopping? Well, first things first -- you've gotta enter my giveaway!

So I'm super excited about new beauty releases that have come out in the last few months - some of my absolute favorites include:

Holographic Pigment

#prism by @socialclaws on my fingers. Pure #spectraflair on my thumb.

A video posted by PolishGalore (@polishgalore) on Aug 26, 2016 at 12:06pm PDT

There are many shops currently selling Holographic Pigment but I decided to purchase from Social Claws who at press time was selling her 2 grams for $29 + shipping. It was a learning curve for me as my first attempt was difficult because I fully cured my gel top coat instead of flash curing as suggested. The second time was amazing as seen above and I've been wearing it for almost a week now and can't stop staring at my nails.

Clear Squishy Stampers

I did the nails for the birthday girl @the_shalack_pack - we used @juliegbeauty for the base and @cndworld for the stamp - stamp was from @uberchicbeauty.

A photo posted by PolishGalore (@polishgalore) on Aug 27, 2016 at 8:19pm PDT

So while stamping isn't new, the concept of the clear stampers is still new to me, and I actually worked really hard on the above nails for my friend Tiffinie. I'm excited to try new things with this clear stamper that are every day looks for people like us that work in an office every day.

Fall Polishes

Image courtesy of ILNP - "Alexander", "Mon Amour" & The Harpist"

FALL IS COMING! I'm obsessed with fall polishes as a general rule. I love wearing dark, vampy colors that scream sweater weather, and crisp air and FOOTBALL. Okay, maybe not football, but I am super excited about that. Above, you see 3 of the new ILNP that are coming out for Fall 2016. ILNP has been a favorite brand of mine for years, so it was only fitting that my giveaway was going to be a $25 e-gift card to the ILNP website!

Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter my giveaway. The only MANDATORY entry is to list your email which will ONLY be used if you win this giveaway. Your email addresses will not be kept, sold, or used for any type of solicitation by PolishGalore. All the other options in the widget are OPTIONAL.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You're all set, the next blog to hop to is MY BEAUTY BUNNY.

KBShimmer x Color4Nails Polishes

Press Sample
So I'm still getting my a/c fixed ... turns out I had a ton of wood rot and it's a miracle that the unit didn't fall through the cabinet and onto the floor. Because I'm literally stuck at home, I figured today was a great day to review the KBShimmer x Color4Nails exclusive polishes that I received from Color4Nails. These two beauties are What the Shell, a tan polish with micro pink glitter and micro rainbow glitter (which gives is a scattered holo look), and Berried In The Sand, a holographic fuchsia with blue shimmer.

First up is What the Shell. 

So this color was so my jam in the bottle. I love the tan base, the pink shimmer, the scattered rainbow glitter. The rainbow glitter is what's throwing the orange and yellows you see in the bottle. I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and finished with KBShimmer Clearly On Top. I wasn't sure if 2 coats was enough and almost added a third, but KBShimmers are normally always opaque in two.

So on the nail was a different story. Even my husband, who's normally very disinterested in polish, said said "Eh, I don't like that." It just seemed to go too much into my skin tone and the rainbow glitter is pretty hidden on the nail. I mostly just saw pink shimmer. I think it's a pretty polish and VERY unique, but may look better on a different skin tone.

Next up is Berried In The Sand.

This is a holographic fuchsia polish with blue shimmer. I originally wore this on my nails before I nubbinized them, but didn't take an official photos. Then I made the big chop and decided to take photos. I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, ONE COAT of polish and finished with KBShimmer Clearly On Top. 

I was shocked that it was one coat. Absolutely shocked. So in love. I'm using this for my pedicure as well. This photo was taken outside in the sun so you can see the holographic vs the blue shimmer but in the shade the blue shimmer is apparent. I love it all. Definitely my pick to be worn again and again.

These two polishes are exclusive to Color4Nails and can be purchased for $10 each.

• What The Shell
• Berried In The Sand

Be sure to check out Color4Nails's social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

KBShimmer [website] can be purchased through their website for those in the United States and through Harlow and Co for international sales. Prices range from $5.50 to $8.75. Connect with KBShimmer through their social media networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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

Dermelect Explosive

Nothing To Disclose
While at Cosmoprof North America, they had their Boutique again. Think real life sample box time. You were able to pick 7 items from the wall for a $10 donation. I picked up Dermelect Explosive from the 2016 Spring Outburst collection. This melon/coral creme offers great things for those who are looking for peptide-infused color treatment for fragile, weak nails. It's big 4-free (to include toulene) and is cruelty free. I picked it because I thought it would look great with some nail art.

I used a base of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and finished with Love Angeline Topped with Love top coat. Formula was good - not streaky and no flooding.

Happy little creme - nothing crazy to write home about. If you want to use Dermelect to rebuild your nails, be sure to try their whole system - Launchpad Nail Strengthener base coat and Memento Manicure extender top coat. 

You can purchase Dermelect on their website and now at Ulta Beauty. Join the social conversation on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Glisten & Glow Snorkel in St. Thomas

Press Sample
It's been 83 days since we were hit by a tornado and I'm finally getting my a/c fixed in the main part of my house today. It's been a very frustrating experience. Since I am required to be home for the install, I'm going through my box of items I received at the Cocktails and Colors party in Las Vegas last month. One that immediately caught my eye was Glisten & Glow Snorkel in St. Thomas - a vibrant cyan creme. I used this as a base for some nail art last week but I wanted to wear it entirely on its own as well.

I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and finished it with Love Angeline Topped With Love top coat. The first coat was a little thin looking but the second coat self-leveled to a beautiful opaque creme.

Look how beautiful this is! While blue isn't normally a color I reach for, this one is such a happy creme. I really miss cremes sometimes - it's easy to wear, it's easy to come off, you can dress it up with glitter or stamping. It's great. This is one in the 4 part collection called Experience the Islands and is currently listed for $7.50.

Glisten & Glow is available on their website. Join the social conversation with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

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