Valentine Blues

Somehow I ended up with blue hearts on my nails last week.  I was already wearing 2 coats of KBShimmer Blue Topaz and had every intention of using the top image from Pueen plate 16.  But then I spotted the hearts images on the right side of the same plate and the next thing I know, blue hearts all over my nails.  I ended up spending Valentine's Day itself sporting naked nails, so this turned out to be the closest thing to a Valentine manicure I did this month.

I really like this mixed hearts design from Pueen.  I'm not usually a fan of heart-themed items, except when it comes to my nails it seems.  I've ordered many a stamping plate solely because of a cool hearts design that I saw and decided I had to have.

To stamp the hearts pattern, I used Robin's Egg Blue from Rica on Etsy.  I had pulled out both Robin's Egg Blue and the blue pastel Konad Special Polish as possible stamping colors.  Robin's Egg Blue was just a touch more pale than the Konad and I thought it paired with the KBShimmer polish better.

I do love a good monochrome manicure.  I don't know if I just prefer the way they look, or if it's because I kinda suck as mix-n-matching colors when stamping!  Maybe a little of both.

Happy 2016!

Happy New Year!  I kept it pretty simple again for New Year's.  Just a quick stamping mani using images all from MoYou London Festive Plate 05.

The base color is KBShimmer Black Pearl, from their new Birthstone Collection, available today.  Black Pearl was provided for review, regular swatches coming soon.  All the birthstone polishes are a combination of flakies and holo.  This is 2 coats of Black Pearl, which went on very smoothly.  It wasn't thick or lumpy, and dried to a fairly smooth finish that needed very little top coat to be perfectly smooth.  The flakies in Black Pearl give off a gold look, so I thought it would pair perfectly with Essie Good As Gold for the stamping.

Starting at the index nail, I used a fireworks design, then a clock striking midnight on my middle finger, champagne flutes on my ring finger nail, and a streamers/confetti design for my pinkie nail.

I also used a different design for my thumbs, which I just now realized I don't have any pictures of.  The design I used though is sort of a fireworks burst/shooting stars type look.  On Festive Plate 05, it's the design to the immediate left of the clock design.  I kind of slapped it on my thumbs, not sure of which design to put on them, and I was really surprised with how much I liked it.  I want to do a full nail look now with just that one image.  I think it would work well as an abstract, everyday look.

*Some polishes were provided for honest review.  Review contains only my personal opinions.*

Happy Halloween 2015!

Happy Halloween!  Just one mani for me this Halloween.  The orange polish is Zoya Arizona, and the gradient is Pansy-Monium and My Life's Porpoise, both from KBShimmer.  Everything was stamped using Rica Blackout stamping polish.  The skulls is a design from MoYou London Biker Collection plate 08, while everything else is from Bundle Monster.  The bats design is off of plate BM-H08, both the text design on my ring finger nail and the spider web on my pinky nail are from plate BM-H07.

Going into it, I was originally planning to have all my nails be different base colors.  It wasn't until after I finished the two middle nails that I decided to scrap that idea and throw down a few coats of orange on my index and pinky nails too.  Otherwise, I would have most likely put the gradient on my ring finger nail as an accent, instead of my middle finger.  But really, there's no rules when it comes to accent nails, and I really like the overall look with the accent nail just where it is.  The gradient with bats stamp also went on my camera shy thumb nails.  I really love the look of the purple to grey gradient, I think I may need to use it for a full mani someday.

Have a fun and safe Halloween weekend!

KBShimmer Fall 2015 Collection

Press Sample

It's that time of the year, lots of brands are starting to release their Fall collections.  This Tuesday, September 15th, you can add KBShimmer to that list when they release their 2015 Fall Collection.  There are 12 new polishes in the collection, and today I've got swatches of 7 of the 12 to show you.

July 4th Weekend

Last weekend, I posted a quick pic on Instagram showing my last minute July 4th manicure.  The day was so dreary, it was raining all morning and showing no signs of stopping.  I knew any original July 4th plans were going to have to wait until the next day.  It was going to turn into a "stay home and watch fireworks specials on TV" kind of night for sure.  I had painted my nails white in the morning, in anticipation of doing some type of July 4th themed look with white as the base color.  But the gloomy day didn't really put me in the mood to paint my nails.  About halfway through the day though, I decided to do just a really quick, dry brush American flag (sorta) design.

I tested it out on my thumb first and was loving the effect, which was the shot I had posted on Instagram.  I was a little indifferent to the finished look though once I had completed the rest of my nails.  It did definitely grow on me over the next few days, and a few of my friends really liked it.  I think the overall effect was much cooler looking in person than it looks in photographs.  And I'm definitely inexperienced when it comes to the dry brush technique, so that's something I think I'm going to need to practice a bit more in the future.

My base was two coats of KBShimmer Eyes White Open.  The blue and red stripes are both polishes from Priti NYC.  The blue is Canterbury Bells, and the red is called Cherry Ripe.  If you aren't familiar with the dry brush approach, you basically try to scrape as much polish off the brush as you can back into the bottle, and then swipe the brush across your nail.  There were some times where I thought I globbed on a little too much color, so to fix it I just went over a few spots with more white polish.  I finished it off with a coat of Seche Vite.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe July 4th holiday last week.  I definitely enjoyed July 5th a whole lot more than July 4th.  The weather was perfect on Sunday, and there was a great fireworks display put on in my town.  I even snagged a few good shots of the show.

St. Patrick's Day 2015

Happy St Paddy's Day!!!  St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays, and I'm really not sure why.  I'm not even Irish.  But I do love green and, thanks to the influence of my older sister, I've always had a love of Ireland while growing up.  For St. Patrick's Day this year, I finally busted out my bottle of the Extra Fine version of Lacquistry Amazeballz, and combined it with a little stamping on my other nails.

I love the extra fine version of Amazeballz even more than the original.  The formula is incredibly smooth, and you could almost get away with a single coat.  I did apply a second coat just to even up the coverage though.  For my other nails, I applied 2 coats of KBShimmer Eyes White Open and topped that with 1 coat of Sephora by OPI It's Real 18K Gold top coat.  Over that I stamped a shamrock and clover pattern from Bundle Monster plate BM-723 using Konad Special Polish in green.  I topped everything with one coat of Seche Vite.

I only wish that I had applied 2 coats of the It's Real 18K Gold top coat on my index and pinky nails, instead of just 1 coat.  With a close-up view like in the blog pics, it's pretty easy to see it on the nails.  But in real life, it's hard to spot that the gold flakes are even there.  I think a second coat would have made them much more noticeable, but I still love how it turned out.  Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great St. Patrick's Day!

KBShimmer Spring Collection 2015 - Crellies and Cream

Press Sample

Tomorrow is March 1st and, while I already feel like 2015 is starting to fly by, I'm definitely enjoying the thought that Spring is around the corner!  So on the subject of Spring, here are the rest of the polishes I had swatched from the new KBShimmer Spring 2015 Collection.

KBShimmer Spring Collection 2015 - Holo Swatches

Press Sample

Where did January go?  Seriously.  Where???  One day it was New Year's, then *POOF* I'm watching the groundhog predict 6 more weeks of Winter.  Since January decided to fast forward on me, let's just fast forward a little bit more, to Spring.  Because today marks the release of the new KBShimmer Spring Collection for 2015.  I have a total of 8 out of the 12 new Spring polishes to show you, and in today's post I'm starting out with 4 of the 8 shades.  Keep reading after the jump for my swatches of the 4 new KBShimmer holo polishes.  

KBShimmer Winter 2014 Collection Swatches & Review

Press Sample

It's here!  The release of the new Winter 2014 Collection from KBShimmer is today, Saturday, November 1st.  I've got 9 out of the 17 polishes from the collection to show you.  This post might be a long one, very picture heavy!  Keep reading after the jump to see all the swatches and get my thoughts on the new shades, and a few returning shades from past Winter collections.

KBShimmer Winter 2014 Collection Press Release

KBShimmer Winter Collection Polishes 

Set for Release on November 1

The collection includes a combination of new polishes, cuticle oil pens and a holiday vinyl nail sheet.

KBShimmer announces the winter collection, an addition of 11 new shades to its 3-free nail polish line. The collection also includes the re-release of 5 holiday fan favorites. “Tis the season to sparkle, and how better to sparkle then with jewel tones, shiny holographic glitters, and whimsical unique glitter shapes?” KBShimmer Owner, Christy Rose, said.  “The winter 2014 collection features several colors based Pantone’s 2014 Winter colors, holiday memories and décor, and the winter season itself.”  

The winter 2014 Collection also features “Pine-ing For Yule,” a Christmas Tree inspired glitter topcoat with triangle “Christmas Trees” and red star tree toppers. “This year we are again working with Toys For Tots ® to bring joy to children over the holiday season, creating the charity polish is almost the highlight of my year, right behind the donation itself .” says Rose.  $4 from the sale of each bottle from 11/01/15 to 12/15/14 will be donated to Toys For Tots ®.

Also included in the winter release are 4 new scents of KBShimmer cuticle pens, including Peppermint, Raspberry Vanilla, Chia Tea, and Unscented.   A holiday inspired vinyl nail decal sheet, complete with candy canes, Christmas Trees, holiday lights and snowflakes will makes its debut along with the winter polish collection.  Cuticle Oil Pens retail for $6 each, and vinyl nail decals retail for $5 a sheet.

Each KBShimmer bottle will retail for $8.75 on the website at www.kbshimmer.com. For sales outside the U.S., visit www.harlowandco.org.

New For Winter 2014:

Flake Dance

Sliver holographic snowflakes dance among a scattering of smaller silver holographic glitters.

Let’s Sleigh Together

This pale gray polish features hex glitters in green, navy and pale mint, with circles and micro glitters for shine and sparkle.

White Here, White Now

This snowy white polish is a blustery addition to our textured collection.

Turnip The Beet

A rich sangria colored base accents holographic glitters in magenta, purple and red.

Dressed To Gild

This textured polish is rich with holographic gold glitters.  Hints of lavender and lime glitters add depth and extra shine.

Pine-ing For Yule

A holiday inspired glitter topcoat with holographic triangle “Christmas Trees” and red star tree toppers. For each bottle sold at KBShimmer.com from 11/01 until 12/15, $4 will be donated to Tots For Tots ®

.

Too Cold To Hold

A rich sapphire blue base is filled with holographic sliver, blue, and green holographic glitters for a bejeweled textured look.

Fallen Angle

A vibrant royal blue jelly, this a-cute polish features holographic blue triangles, and micro sparkles.  

Mauve On Over

A pale-mauve crelly base sets off an explosion of colored hexes in orange, navy and aqua.

Deja Brew

This brown polish has red undertones that set off the linear holographic rainbow.

Spot Sign

Like a wild cat ready to pounce, this spotted polish is ready to bring out our wild side.  Black leopard spot shaped glitters are accented by black dots, small black hexes and micro holographic sparkle.  

Cuticle Oil Pens

4 new scents join the current line-up, Peppermint, Raspberry Vanilla, Chia Tea and Unscented.  

Holiday Vinyl Nail Decals

A new multi-design sheet perfect for holiday and winter inspired nail art.

The Returning Holiday Favorites:

Merry Pinkmas

A light cotton candy pink polish featuring red, green andneon glitters in a variety of shapes.

Kringle All The Way

A glitter top with circle glitters in red, green, and silver.

All Decked Out

A Christmas tree inspired polish with a forest green jelly base with a rainbow of hex glitters and a scattering of gold stars.

Snow Way

This snow inspired polish features a pale, sky blue crelly base with white glitters while micro sparkles glisten like fallen snow on a clear winter’s day.

Sugar Plum Faerie

A soft plum violet crelly with berry, purple and lime

colored metallic holographic glitters in different sizes

KBShimmer products can be found at Http://www.KBShimmer.com.  For sales outside of the US visit http://www.HarlowandCo.org.

KBShimmer was founded in 2008 by the husband and wife team of Jason and Christy Rose.  KBShimmer offers unique and colorful nail glitter nail polishes that are Big 3 Free, with all glitter formulas being completely free of chemicals such as toluene, form aldehyde, form aldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP).  KBShimmer glitter polishes feature a flat glitter-grabbing brush for easy application. KBShimmer also offers a 2-free quick dry polish topcoat, olive oil lotion, sugar scrubs, lip balms, cold process soaps, and other skin care products.  If you would like more information about KBShimmer, contact Christy Rose by emailing sales@kbshimmer.com or visiting Http://www.KBShimmer.com.

© 2014 KBShimmer. All rights reserved.

KBShimmer Fall 2014 Swatches

Press Sample

KBShimmer is set to release their new Fall 2014 collection on, Monday, September 15th.  I was able to preview 5 of the new polishes and I've got all the swatches for you today, as you get ready for them to go on sale tomorrow.

KBShimmer Fall 2014 Collection Press Release

KBShimmer Fall Collection Polishes Set for Release on September 15th  
The collection includes a combination of jellys, iridescents, and glitter top coats.

  

KBShimmer announces the fall collection, an addition of 9 new polishes to its 3-free polish line. The collection also includes the re-release of ‘Jack,’ a Halloween-themed favorite. “When creating the fall collection, I was inspired by all the wonderful colors of the season, from changing leaves to pumpkins, and I converted those into warm, wearable colors,” KBShimmer Owner, Christy Rose, said.

The fall collection pulls the trending colors of the season and combines them with a dash of fun. “I wanted to highlight a few of our favorite trending fall colors, and we created Stonewashed and Leaf of Faith based on color tones in the fall Pantone lineup,” Rose said.

The Collection also features “Jack,” a retro Halloween best seller from the KBShimmer polish vault. This easy-to-apply glitter polish is sure to spook your friends while adding a touch of glitz to this dark and scary holiday.

Each KBShimmer bottle will retail for $8.75 on the website, www.kbshimmer.com. For sales outside the U.S., visit www.harlowandco.org.

The Glitters & Holos:

A Raisin To Live
Deep and dark, this is a deep burgundy, blackened Ox-Blood colored polish full of holographic sparkles.



Flannel Surfing
Like a well-loved pair of pajama pants, this faded blue polish is warmed with gray undertones.  Pops of orange, aqua, and teal glitters complete this comforting polish.



Jack
Re-released as a Halloween treat, Jack is a black jelly with orange hex glitters, a scattering of orange micro slices, and black hexes and shreds.



Leaf of Faith
A deep cabernet-red jelly is the backdrop for glitters in red, orange and gold.  A scattering of holographic glitters gives this fall themed polish sparkle and shine.



Rust No One
This deep, rusty, red-leaning pumpkin color is ideal for fall.  With its linear holographic rainbow, Rust No One is beautiful indoors and out.



Up & Cunning
A deep teal, almost forest green in color, Up & Cunning is a perfect compliment to fall fashions. In the sun or bright light, this linear holographic beauty just shines with rainbow goodness.



The Glitter Top Coat:
Kiss & Spell
Like a witches brew, this Halloween-themed polish is loaded with a variety of shapes in traditional colors. Purple, orange, yellow and neon green swim in a sea of multi-colored hexes.




The Creams:
How You Dune?
Like sands through the hourglass, this “greige” polish is a perfect blend of creamy beige and a light grey.



Hugs & Wishes
Lavender might not be a traditional fall color, but with lavender being paired with pumpkin in scents and food, this blue-leaning pastel color is popping up all over.



Stonewashed
Jeans are a girl’s best friend (after diamonds, of course), and this dusty navy color is the perfect complement to denim.



 

KBShimmer products can be found at Http://www.KBShimmer.com.  For sales outside of the US visithttp://www.HarlowandCo.org.

KBShimmer was founded in 2008 by the husband and wife team of Jason and Christy Rose.  KBShimmer offers unique and colorful nail glitter nail polishes that are Big 3 Free, with all glitter formulas being completely free of chemicals such as toluene, form aldehyde, form aldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP).  KBShimmer glitter polishes feature a flat glitter-grabbing brush for easy application.. KBShimmer also offers a 2-free quick dry polish topcoat, olive oil lotion, sugar scrubs, lip balms, cold process soaps, and other skin care products.


If you would like more information about KBShimmer, contact Christy Rose by emailingsales@kbshimmer.com or visiting
Http://www.KBShimmer.com.