30 September 2013

Pastelish Galaxy Nails?

Purchased By Me | Provided For Review

It's Monday!! Another week of work! Hope your day went by as quickly as mine! :)

I've said this before, but I loooove galaxy nails. They're so easy to do, the color combinations are endless, and you don't have to do traditional galaxies!

I tried to do pastel galaxies, but my colors were still too dark to be pastel :P I did wear this for a few days, though!

After my vegetable peeler fiasco, I ended up shortening all of my nails :(



I used Zoya Dream as my base color, then sponged on Zoya Mason and Belinda, but added mixed in Wet n Wild Break the Ice to lighten the colors. Added China Glaze Fairy Dust and used white acrylic paint and a dotting tool for the stars :)



Next time, I'll use smaller pieces of sponge on short nails like these :)

Are you a fan of galaxy nails? Do you like the traditional ones, or do you try different color combinations?

Some products in this post were provided for review. All opinions are my own. See disclosure.

29 September 2013

HYD For Men Review

Provided For Review | Affiliate Links

Happy Sunday! I have a few posts lined up, a couple that are not nail polish related! :P Aside from nail polish and books, I also love all things makeup and beauty related :D

We (my husband and I) were recently sent a few HYD For Men products from the wonderful people over at iFabbo. Hubby has taken a stance against shaving, so I decided to test drive one of the products and give my thoughts on the other two! :)

HYD For Men Shave Cream, Razor Shield, and Buffer Stick
The only product I tried myself was the HYD For Men Shave Cream since I ran out of blades and the little moisturizing strips fell off the one blade I had left. 


The shave cream has a very clean citrusy scent that is not overpowering like other similarly scented products. Unlike shave gels, this is a cream. It is thick enough to provide full coverage, but thin enough to spread easily. Since I used this on my legs, you would have to use quite a bit of product for both legs.


Also, the shave cream doesn't lather and foam like traditional shave gels do. I would use this again and will definitely be pushing hubby to use this! :)

The HYD For Men Buffer Stick removes dead skin cells and exfoliates the skin. As a female, I know how important exfoliating is! Your moisturizers work better, your skin is softer. The buffer stick is also supposed to prevent ingrown hairs. I know hubby gets a few of those painful ingrown hairs when he hasn't shaved for weeks and then suddenly decides to shave. Since this is a microdermabrasion, it is recommended that you start off using only once a week, then increasing as needed, not to exceed 3 times a week. Too much microdermabrasion can irritate your skin.



The buffer stick comes in a twist-bottom container with a screw-on lid. As with the shave cream, this has a very pleasant scent. Not overpowering but subtle. It does have a slight floral scent, but not so much so that your man will be a walking floral arrangement ;)

And lastly, we have the Razor Shield, which claims to extend the life of your blades. Men with thicker coats will go through more blades than the average man. Over time, blades dull and become impossible to use. You get razor burn, there is a lot of tugging, and your skin isn't as smooth as it is when you pull that blade fresh out of the package and use it for the first time. The Razor Shield is supposed to keep your blades moisturized and protect them. This comes in a small pump bottle and you'll need to prime the pump a couple of times before the product comes out.


I'll definitely be using this on hubby's blades, as well as mine. Apply this after each shave. Note - Not for use on electric razors! I imagine because this is an oil-based product, it would lock up an electric razor and burn out the motor.


HYD For Men products are dermatologist tested, paraben free, non-irritating, and are not tested on animals.

You can purchase these products at the HYD For Men shop and HYD For Men is giving you, lovely readers, a 20% off coupon on your first purchase at HYDForMen.com! Just use the code SAVE20 at checkout :D I have prices listed below for your purchasing pleasure and important links!

  • HYD For Men Shave Cream - $12.99 for 150mL
  • HYD For Men Buffer Stick - $24.99 for 2oz
  • HYD For Men Razor Shield - $17.99 for 15mL

Do you ever reach for your man's shave products? :P

Products in this post were provided for review. All opinions are my own. See disclosure.

28 September 2013

Zoya Zenith Holiday Winter 2013 Swatches and Review - Picture Heavy

Provided For Review

Available October 1st from Zoya.com, the Zenith Holiday Winter Collection will have you longing for hot cocoa, funky scarves, and the serene quiet after a beautiful snowfall <3 At least it does for me! ;)

Zoya once again nails it with 6 beautiful winter/holiday inspired shades. I absolutely love that Zoya stepped away from the traditional colors associated with the holidays.


All photos are shown with 2 coats and no top coat. Formula on all of these were phenomenal, as usual!

*Just a small disclosure - mid-swatching, I had to get dinner started and ended up cutting through a nail with the vegetable peeler, so some photos show the nail in question filed down :P


Seraphina is a polaris silver metallic. Very sheer on the first coat, still VNL after a second coat. 3 coats would probably be perfect! Beautiful color, reminds me of freshly fallen snow, silver tinsel on Christmas trees. As with any foil/metallic, clean up was a pain :P



Cassedy is a celestial pewter metallic. Gorgeous! I love the dark gunmetal color and the flashes of pine green coming through.



Mosheen is an astro ice blue topper consisting of holo bar glitter and small holo glitter dots or hexes. I layered it over Seraphina and Cassedy here. This would look great over a lot of colors!




Belinda is a cosmic purple metallic. Gorgeous color! Falls right in between Neve from the Satin Collection and Suri.. comparison post??




Here is Mosheen layered over Belinda. My camera freaked out! Not sure how I feel about this combination, though :\


And finally.. my two favorites of the collection! <3 If you loved Blaze, Storm, or Aurora from the 2012 Ornate Collection, you'll love these two!


Payton is a galactic cranberry holo. I think after a third coat (as shown on my ring finger), the color leans more toward a mulberry shade. Definitely reminds me of cranberry sauce, cranberry relish. Yum!


And my absolute favorite! Dream is a deep space blue holo. I loved this so much I had to use it in a mani (blog post to follow!)


Beautimous!! <3



Overall, this collection is absolutely beautiful! All polishes were quick drying and didn't require top coat for shine! Any favorites?

Zoya can be bought at www.zoya.com and as always, are 5-free. Retail price is $8 per bottle.

Products in this post were provided for review. All opinions are my own. See disclosure.

14 September 2013

Press Release - Zoya Zenith Winter/Holiday 2013

ZENITH
Harmonious Cosmic Color for Winter/Holiday 2013
Enter the color cosmos with this new collection of six perfectly harmonious nail polish beauties by Zoya.


Zoya ZENITH WINTER/HOLIDAY 2013
ZP689 - Seraphina: Polaris Silver Metallic. Full Coverage Formula (bottle shown above).

ZP687 - Cassedy: Celestial Pewter Metallic. Full Coverage F Formula (shown above).

ZP678 - Belinda: Cosmic Purple Metallic. Full Coverage Formula (bottle shown above).

ZP688 - Payton: Galactic Cranberry Halo. Full Coverage Formula (shown above).

ZP686 - Dream: Deep Space Blue Halo. Full Coverage Formula (shown below)

ZP643 - Mosheen: Astro Ice Blue Topper - great for layering over other hues (bottle shown above).

Ultra long-wearing, nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrialchemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP)that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

Find over 300 stunning Zoya colors on www.zoya.com. Each and every color has a name as unique as the women who inspired it.

ZOYA IS THE NEW COLOR OF FASHION!
Zoya Zenith Collection
$8.00 ea.(US)
Available on Zoya.com

FALL COLOR – AVAILABLE OCTOBER 01, 2013

# # #

Photo credits: Zoya Nail Polish


I am loving this collection!! I'm really excited about Dream and Payton, and, oh heck! All of them! :D

11 September 2013

Peacock Nails Using VL 006

Purchased By Me | Provided For Review

Hey all! I haven't really been online much lately. My dad was diagnosed with liver cancer in April/May and it quickly progressed to Stage IV. Sadly, he lost the fight and passed away early Monday morning :'( I haven't really wanted to do anything the past few days except stay in bed. It's a difficult thing to come to terms with, my dad being gone. He was always out in the garden, going fishing. Then to see what that ugly cancer did to him.. it just sucks :(

Last week, I got my tiny order from Vivid Lacquer, plate VL 006, which is just amazing! The etching is just right and the images stamped beautifully! <3 I immediately wanted to use the peacock feather print design.

I did a gradient using Zoya Giovanna* and Neve*, then stamped using Julie G Ornamental. After letting that dry, I used my dotting tool and Zoya Mason* in the "eye" part of the feathers. Waited a few minutes, then added top coat! Definitely getting a squishy stamper ASAP! :P




What do you think? I love peacock inspired nail art, and there are several types of peacocks with different coloring, so the ideas are endless :D

Some products in this post were provided for review. All opinions are my own. See disclosure.
* Swatches and review coming soon!

04 September 2013

Stamping - Bundle Monster 307

Purchased By Me Provided For Review

Happy Hump Day!! Couple more days until the weekend! Didn't we just see the weekend?! ;) Anyway! As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I ordered some more stamping plates and I should have the Pueen Love Elements by the end of the week! To get back into stamping, I pulled out my Bundle Monster plates.

I've been following Wacky Laki since I first started getting into the nail polish "scene" and when I saw this, it immediately went to the top of my stamping list. I finally sat down Monday night and got to work.

I used Zoya Zuza as my base color, layered Shimmer Jasmine over Zuza, added Glossy Glam top coat, then used BM-307 (since I don't have Pueen 39..yet) and Essie Penny Talk. Added another coat of Glossy Glam and I was good to go! :) I haven't stamped in ages, it seems, but I think I did a pretty good job ;) My nail beds are tiny compared to the image I used, though.




Have you tried stamping? Love it or hate it? Tell me in the comments! :) Have a great day!

Some products in this post were provided for review. All opinions are my own. See disclosure.

03 September 2013

Model City Swatches and Review: Sweet Tart and Midsummer Night

Provided For Review

Happy It's-Tuesday-But-Feels-Like-Monday! :P

I've been longingly eyeballing several polishes at Model City Polish for quite some time, so I was thrilled when Nina emailed me and asked if I wanted to do a review for her. Of course, I was stoked and said yes!

Sweet Tart is a lovely white creme base filled with matte small and medium hexes, pink squares, and light purple hexes. Shown is 3 coats, no top coat (because I was so excited about the amazing formula!)


Application was amazing! I've been leery about white-based glitter-filled polishes because some of them don't go on smoothly (so I've heard), but the formula on this is fantastic! Dry time was quick in between each coat, no fishing for glitters (I turned the bottle upside down and rolled it around before I used it). As soon as I put this on, I wanted Sweet Tarts candy! :P This is definitely something I see myself using quite a bit. Nina did an excellent job with this polish! <3



Fun macro shot!


Midsummer Night is a bright cobalt blue jelly with two different sized holo glitters. Shown is 2 thin coats with 1 semi-thick coat. I did have some pulling, which happens with jelly-based polishes, but I think I didn't let my base coat dry long enough :\ This dried quickly, as well! :)


I loooove jelly polishes, and the holo glitters look awesome suspended between each layer :) After swatching this, I wanted to read William Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream <3


And another macro shot, taken with flash to show off the holo glitters! :D


Model City Polishes can be purchased here on Etsy. Polishes are $8-9 USD for a full-sized bottle, and currently, Nina only ships within the US. You can contact her if you live in Canada for a custom listing. For international orders, visit Edgy Polish. Also be sure to follow on Facebook and add Nina's blog to your blogroll! :D Nina also has cuticle oils, glass nail files, and nail polish jewelry on Etsy! :D

What's your favorite Model City Polish? Let me know in the comments!

Products in this post were provided for review. All opinions are my own. See disclosure.

01 September 2013

Guest Post: Victoria from Vic and Her Nails

Hey guys!! Hope your long weekend is going well! :) I decided that I'm going to file down the rest of my nails :( My nubbin is taking too long to grow out, and I want to practice some stamping since I just ordered the Pueen Love Elements set and VL 006 from Vivid Lacquer <3

Today I have Victoria from Vic and Her Nails guest posting! :)


Hello Polished and Glittered readers!
I'm Victoria Oen from Vic and Her Nails. I saw Patricia's post about asking for guest posters while she waits for her nubbing grows back. So I give it a shot since I'm so excited on guest posting for her.
Here we go!




For this look, I used OPI Rally Pretty Pink as the base color on my accent nails and OPI Steady as She Rose as the base color on the rest of my nails. Then I painted the flowers and added some dots. Sounds pretty easy huh?



Well, that's it guys. such a short post of mine. I'm not a good writer so I'm not quite good at playing around with words.

Thanks Patricia for having me here and I hope you guys enjoyed it :D

God bless you
Love, Victoria
(o.o)V

Aren't these beautiful?? Thank you, Victoria! Definitely need to do these :D 

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Labor Day!