Kilox Lacquers - World Opulence Collection!

Hi my lovelies!! 

I know I've been pretty MIA as of late. I just recently started a new job, and my hours have been a little all over the place, so I haven't had much time for blogging. Plus, one of the downsides to the job is that we are not allowed to wear any nail polish! (I work with food and drinks a lot, so apparently it's a health-code violation.) 

No polish = sad Kate lol. I've just been keeping them painted on my off-time, and as far as swatches I pretty much have to just swatch and take it right off. No fun, no bueno. Lol!

(Oh also, please forgive my short little nubbins nails and awful, dry cuticles. Those are also courtesy of the new job. Waaah! :p)

But I have a super-duper fun and exciting post for you guys today!! :D 

Today I am swatching/reviewing my very first full indie polish collection! :) 

This is the World Opulence Collection by Kilox Lacquers! 

 

The World Opulence Collection consists of 7 gorgeous sparkly beauties! I really love the bright colors, and obviously I love all that glitter. This is me we're talking about, hello. So shiny, so pretty, and glitter for days! Just my style! ;) 

First up, we have Burmese Ruby: 

Burmese Ruby is a red shimmer, with red and silver micro-glitter. There's actually quite a bit more glitter in it than you can see here, this one was a little hard to capture on camera. The glitter is much more obvious in person. :) 

I was really impressed with the formula, it was completely opaque in 2 coats, (which is rare sometimes for indie polishes, especially glitters), and dried pretty quickly. No staining at all on the nails or cuticles, and removal was easy. I think this will definitely be a staple in my Christmas manis come Holiday time! :) 

Next up, Norwegian Topaz: 

You guys. YOU GUYS. I. love. this. so. much!  Just look at that bottle shot. Look at it. It's so gorgeous I can't even. It's also one of the most unique indies I've seen. :)

Norwegian Topaz is a gooorgeous deep orange shimmer, absolutely packed with holographic pink, orange, and silver micro-glitters, and small pink hex glitters. 

I did not ever want to take this off, it's so sparkly and pretty! Again, the formula was really great, opaque in two coats, great drying time, no staining, no need to "fish" for the glitters at all, and removal was surprisingly easy for such a packed glitter! (Especially since it was completely dry by the time I got myself to stop staring and taking pictures of it lol!) 

Next up, Columbian Emerald:

Columbian Emerald is dark emerald shimmer, with silver micro-glitter and small green and silver round glitters. 

I really like this one too, it's perfect for this season too, since emerald is is the color of the year for 2013! :) 

This formula was slightly thinner, so it took 3 coats to complete opaqueness. You could probably get away with two, but we all know how I am with my coverage, I go overboard sometimes lol! 

Still has a very good drying time, no staining, no "fishing," and easy removal. The glitters in this one, like Burmese Ruby, are much more obvious in person. For some reason my camera didn't want to pick them up lol! This one is great for Fall, and I think it'll be great for pairing with Burmese Ruby in a Christmas mani! ;) 

Next up, Sri Lankan Sapphire:

Sri Lankan Sapphire is deep sapphire blue shimmer, with silver micro-glitter and light and dark blue round glitters. Like the Ruby and Emerald, it's tough to see those round glitters on my camera. If you look at the bottle in that last photo though, that's much closer to what it looks like in person. The formula is similar to Columbian Emerald, opaque in 3 coats, no fishing, good drying time, easy removal, and no staining, which I was pleasantly surprised about! I always expect such pigmented blues like this to stain, but there was none at all! Can't beat that. :) 

Next up, Egyptian Amethyst:

Egyptian Amethyst is a light purple, almost lavender with purple micro-glitter and silver hex glitters. I would say the base is close to a jelly, whereas the rest of this collection is mostly shimmer base, but not quite thin enough to be classified as a jelly. But also not thick enough to be classified as a "crelly" either. This had the thinnest formula out of them all, this is 3 coats in these photos, but if I were wearing it I would probably do one more coat. That could also just be my obsessive need for coverage though lol! 

Despite its thinness, I really really like this one. The shade is gorgeous, and there's something really unique and fun about the dark micro-glitter/light square glitter combo. This one took a tad-bit longer to dry than the others, but really only an extra minute or two. No staining, easy removal, and I only had to "fish" for the hex glitters on the first coat, after that they started coming out on the brush much more easily.  

Next up, Australian Silver:

Though it's hard to choose, I think this one might actually be my favorite of the collection. 

Australian Silver is a super super pretty silver chrome shimmer. The chrome/foil finish of this polish is amazing, it has almost a mirror-shine to it, and the extra sparkle that the shimmer adds makes it even prettier. Another thing I love about it is that it looks different in different lighting; in low/indoor lighting it looks like a dark chrome silver, but in brighter light and sunlight it looks much lighter. The formula was pretty good too. It was a little bit thin, so I did end up doing 4 coats, but each coat dried thin and quickly. No staining (although for a silver that kinda goes without saying lol :p) Removal was a little bit tougher for this one as opposed to the others, but other than that I have not a single complaint. I will definitely be getting lots of use outta this beauty! :) 

And last, but most certainly not least, is the Opulent Top Coat: 

This is sooo gorgeous! The Opulent Top Coat is a packed holographic micro-glitter top-coat. I topped off Australian Silver with it here. 

The formula is great, quick-drying, easy removal, and no fishing at all, it comes right out on the brush easy-peasy. The first photo is 1 coat, and the second photo is 2 coats. I really love this one, I love all the rainbow you can see in the holo! 

So that is the beautiful World Opulence Collection from Kilox Lacquers! If you like these, make sure to check out her website Kilox Lacquers, she also has a another super pretty collection! :) 

(Disclaimer: These products were sent to me for my honest review, all opinions are strictly my own.) 

Swatch Time + NOTD with Zoya - Phoebe!

Hey my lovelies!

So today I'm going to show you swatches of the third polish I got in Zoya's 4th of July sale, Phoebe! 

I've actually wanted Phoebe for a long time now, but every time I bought from Zoya, it was sold out. But this time around, I finally got lucky and they had it in stock! :)   

Phoebe is a gooorgeous blue matte shimmer, from Zoya's Mod Matte Summer 2011 Collection. 

I have one of the others from that collection, Mitzi, but they discontinued the third shade, Lolly, so unless someone has it and is wiling to sell it or trade for it, I won't get to own it. It's so pretty too! Matte hot pink! Sad Kate! :(  LOL

They also stopped making Electra from the Ornate Winter 2012 Collection, which I wanted sooo badly, but when I went to buy it in February I was too late. You snooze you lose with Zoya sometimes I guess. LOL :p

But anyways, more about Phoebe!

 3 coats, no top-coat!

OPI Mariah Carey Collection - Pink Yet Lavender Swatch!

Hey lovelies! I have a goooorgeous swatch for you today! :) 

This is from the OPI Mariah Carey Collection, and it's a stunning glitter topper called "Pink Yet Lavender." 

The name is definitely fitting, because that's exactly how I would describe it's color! It sort of reminds me of the color of rose gold. 

Pink Yet Lavender is a gorgeous glitter topper, with a clear base with large "pink, yet lavender" colored hex glitters, and pink/lavender holographic micro glitter!

A bottle-shot to show it's prettiness close up! :) 

You definitely do not have to fish for the glitter at all, even the larger glitter pieces come right out on the brush, and I didn't find myself having to "place" the glitter too much at all either. 

The clear base is a little thick though, so you don't want to do too thick of a coat at once. Instead, I did two thin coats an built it up. Other than that though, I had no problems with this polish! :) 

I did a base color of Sephora by OPI - A True Romantic and then two coats of Pink Yet Lavender, and sealed it off with a coat of Seche Vite. 

I loooove the way this glitter looks! I got this from my sister as a birthday gift, and as soon as I pulled it out of the box and saw it, I was in love! 

I can't wait to try this with other base colors and see how it looks! :) 

NOTD: Fun with Zoya Happi!

Hello there my lovelies! 

For today's Nails of the Day, I'm re-swatching Zoya - Happi, and also having a little French Mani fun with it! :) 

I got Happi back in January during the Try 3 Free promotion, and it's definitely become one of my top favorite polishes in my collection now! :) 

Happi is a pretty, summery, pink with coral shimmer, and in in the right lighting you can even see a hint of green shimmer! :) 

It's perfect for Spring and Summer, and now that warm weather is finally here in PA, I'm super-duper loving this one! :) 

I tried to capture the green shimmer, but it's tough to see on camera. You can see it in person though, especially in the sunlight! You can definitely see the gorgeous coral shimmer though! :)

Now, time for a little mini French Mani Fun! 

For this one I used a base of the nude color from the Mark. Mode & Trend Collection, which is a light nude with pink shimmer. Then I added on Happi for French Tips, and sealed with a coat of Seche Vite! 

I think the shimmer of the nude really complemented the shimmer of Happi, and the result was a nice Springy, shimmery French! :) 

I hope you're all enjoying nice weather like we're having! Spring coming around always puts me in a happy mood! :) 

BONUS! Check out this gorgeous rainbow! This came out over my neighborhood the other day after it had been storming all day long. It was so bright and beautiful, and it was perfectly arched all the way around! I haven't seen one as bright as this in a long time. :) 

NOTD: Purple Half-Moons!

Hi lovelies!! :)

Today's NOTD is shimmery purple half-moons!

The half moons aren't the best since I just free-handed them with a striping brush, but oh well. :)

For this mani I used:
Sephora by OPI - Just A Little Dangerous for the base color,
Sephora by OPI - I Don't Bite for the half moons, and I sealed it with a coat of Seche Vite top-coat.

Have a fabulous day my loves! :)

Wet'N'Wild "Drinking A Glass of Shine" Eyeshadow Palette!

Hi lovies! Today I have something a little different for you, today's post isn't about nails! *gasp!* LOL
Today I thought I'd show you guys something else I love, make-up!

So what I'm going to be showing today is the Wet'N'Wild "Drinking A Glass Of Shine" eyeshadow palette. :)
This palette is soo pretty, the colors are definitely me!
I actually got this palette as a Christmas gift from my cousin Sarah, you may remember I showed it in
this post .

This palette had two different sides, a bright colored side, and a natural/smoky side. You could mix and match different colors, but for this post I did it the way the palette shows you.

Other than the palette, I also used ELF Eye Primer, CoverGirl Perfect-Blend eyeliner in black, CoverGirl LashBlast mascara in black, and some Eco-Tools shadow brushes.

So here's the pretty palette:

Look at those colors! Loooooook!:

Here I swatched the colors on my hand to see how they looked on my skin:

The really cool thing that I love about this is that the brush is double-sided! One side is a sponge, and the other side is an angled brush, which works amaaaazingly for doing your crease! :)
(p.s. there's make-up already on it because I had a herp-a-derp moment and forgot to take pictures of it before I started. Oops. Sorry about that. LOL :p)

The sponge tip:

The angled brush:

So I did the teal/blue/purple look first. I decided since the colors of this one were so bright, to only line my water-line/inner-lids with the eyeliner. started by using the sponge side to put the teal color on my lid, then I used the angled brush to put the blue color on my crease. Then I used one of my Eco-Tools shadow brushes to add some of the purple to my outer corner, and very lightly on my lower lid. Then I used another Eco-Tools brush to add the white highlight to my browbone and to highlight my inner-corner, then blended it all together. I also added just a teensy bit of the highlight color over-top of the purple on my lower lid to lighten it up and make it not so obvious.

And here's how it came out:

(This one's a bit blurry, sorry, but you can really see the purple in it.):

So then I did the natural/smoky side. I lined both my water-line with and a thin line on my upper-lid for this one. I also cheated a little bit with this one, because the tan shade for the lid was a tad but too dark for my skin, so I blended just a tiny bit of the brown, and some of the highlight color to lighten it up. Then I followed the same steps as I did before: angled brush to add the dark brown to my crease, Eco-Tools brush to add the black to my inner-corner. I actually went just a little bit into the very beginning of my crease with the black, and blended it out to give it a more smoky look. Then I cheated again and used the white highlight color from the other side of the palette because the other one wasn't shimmery enough for me. LOL :)

This was actually more dark and smoky in person, but you can at least see the way everything blends together.

So that's the palette! I really love it, I can't wait to play around with it and mix and match the colors! :)

What do you guys think? Also, did you like having a make-up post from me instead just all nails all the time? Let me know, because if you guys like it maybe ill do it more often! :)
Not to worry though, the nails aren't going anywhere! ;)