Polished by KPT The Paris & Me Collection - Swatches & Review

Hello everyone!

I've got swatches of an insanely gorgeous new Fall collection to share with you all today.  It’s The Paris & Me Collection from Polished by KPT.  The collection consists of nine stunning Fall shades, four thermals, two holographics, one shimmery creme, and two mindblowing glitters.

Same Fall Different Beginning is a thermal that is a deep plum in it’s cold state and transitions to a warm cranberry red, then to a nearly clear base in it’s warm state.  It’s absolutely packed with gold flakes of all different sizes and they just appear to be floating in the gorgeous jelly base.  If that wasn’t enough, there’s also holographic micro glitter that shines through as well.  I am wearing two coats in the photos, with top coat.

Belle Ami is a holographic thermal that is a deep burgundy-brown in it’s cold state, and transitions to a cool charcoal grey in it’s warm state.  Such a nice, flattering fall shade, and the holographic effect is just enough that it doesn't outdo the color transitions.  I'm wearing two coats plus top coat in the photos.

Fall-O-You is a holographic thermal that is olive green in it’s cold state, and transitions to a warm grey with micro green shimmer in it’s warm state.  This is the most perfect shade of olive (which I absolutely love), and again the holographic effect is not very strong, but just enough that it doesn't overshadow the beautiful transition to grey.  I'm wearing two coats plus top coat in the photos.

Midnight Lust is a thermal that is a vivid blue (with a purple undertone) in it’s cold state, and transitions to an opal shade in it’s warm state.  This has the most beautiful purple, blue, and green shimmer that radiates through the base and gives each transition a different appearance.  So lovely!  I’m wearing two coats plus top coat in the photos.

Rouge-Lette In Love is a vibrant red holo that leans slightly coral / orange.  It is extremely bright and has a strong holographic effect, as well as some gorgeous blue and purple micro shimmer.  The shimmer just glows in person and is very noticeable, you can really see it in the bottle shown below.  I'm wearing two coats without top coat for the photos.

Triomphe-nt Night is a gold holo glitter that can be used as a topper or worn alone.  It's got a really nice gold jelly base, and it's packed with gold holographic micro glitter as well as a hint of green and purple micro shimmer.  The base makes it really easy to wear on it's own, so I've shown it with three thin coats plus top coat.

Cloudy Days Go Away is a beautiful light grey creme filled with blue and green micro shimmer.  The base is the perfect shade of grey, and the shimmer is so unique, it almost looks like a bright turquoise then as you shift your hand you see the bright blue.  It had a perfect formula, opaque in two coats.

Lady Roxane is an ultramarine purple holo that leans slightly pink.  It has a strong holographic effect and is so bright and pretty.  The finish is slightly metallic, so it looks very shiny when dry, which I love as well.  I'm wearing two coats without top coat in the photo below.

Lumières is an insanely majestic glitter, so I had to save it for last.  It’s base is made up of uniquely cut silver holographic flake glitter as well as purple micro shimmer that shifts pink.  It is so incredibly beautiful in every lighting situation as I’ve shown below, but really, when the light hits this one it’s pretty mindblowing.  You can wear Lumières as a topper over any base color, but it builds up really well on it’s own.  I’m wearing three thin coats in the photos, plus top coat.

The Paris & Me Collection by Polished by KPT will be restocked on November 8th, so mark your calendars if you'd like to have these gorgeous polishes on your nails!  Each polish retails for $12.

The whole collection is a must have, but my favorites are of course Lumières, Midnight Lust, Same Fall Different Beginning, and Rouge-Lette In Love!

You can also follow Polished by KPT for more details & swatches here:

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I hope you all enjoyed the swatches as much as I enjoyed wearing them! 

Thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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#WNAC2014 - October / Fall: Roundup

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a great Halloween, if you celebrated it!

I thought I would do a quick roundup post for my first Weekly Nail Art Challenge.  I know I have yet to post the last few here, so I figured I would just group them into one and share my Halloween nails from yesterday.

For floral week, I created a pretty simple berry and orange floral, inspired by a photo I found on Google (I believe it was).  I really loved the hints of black which made it more fall appropriate, as well as the artistic sort of watercolor quality that I like.  I mixed up my own black jelly using an old top coat, some thinner, and black polish for the look, as well as the gorgeous shade Deeply In Love from The Body Shop.  You also have a little peek at my Bastille inspired skull nail (thumb).

Pattern week, I went for something a bit different, but also inspired by a pattern I found on Pinterest.  I created this really cool base by sandwiching a bunch of sparkly fall colors (and holo shimmer) in between the same black jelly (which has become so handy!), and then hand painted the pattern using Essie Good As Gold and my favorite 18/0 Round brush from Michael's.

For Halloween, I created a really pretty orange gradient, using Essie Fear or Desire over a white base.  Then, I sponged on some white as clouds, and painted a few little black bats, trees, and some funny pumpkin silhouettes with a-England Camelot.  They are very typical Halloween, but I love how simple they are at the same time.

 

You can check out my previous #WNAC2014 posts here, if you'd like!  There's a tutorial for the gradient flower petals as well, or you can watch over on YouTube.

We will be continuing the weekly challenge into November with a new theme: Metallic, so feel free to join in and post with us, too!

I hope you all enjoyed the designs, and thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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Colors by Llarowe Fall 2014 Collection Swatches & Review

Hello everyone!

I've got swatches of eight of the new Colors by Llarowe Fall 2014 Collection to share with you today.  The restocks are today, at 12:00pm MDT and again at 7:00pm, so make sure you are ready if you want any of these gorgeous polishes!

Seasons of Change is a beautiful dusty teal holo with a bunch of pink flake shimmer and a golden flash.  This is one of my favorites, for sure!  The formula was so smooth, opaque in two coats, and photographed without top coat.

Sandy We Ain't In Kansas Anymore is a vivid blue holo with a turquoise duochrome and purple shimmer (which sadly, you can't see in my photo).  I love, love this one as well.  It's got more of a metallic finish to it than the others, and is one of those glowy polishes that appear slightly darkened at the edges.  The holographic effect is more subtle than the rest, and it's opaque in two coats.  This was photographed without top coat.

My Broken Down Crop Duster is a deep, muted purple (slightly charcoal) holo with a flash of golden shimmer.  Such a gorgeous fall color, and the holographic effect is extremely strong in this one, so it's amazing in the sun!  This one was also nearly opaque in one coat.

Mercy is a burgundy holo, which leans slightly more purple than red.  It's another beautiful color, perfect for fall.  It was also nearly opaque in one coat with a perfect formula, and the holographic effect is pretty strong.

Obsessed With Marilyn is a cranberry red holo.  This one is more of a jelly than the other holos, and the holo is less dense, more scattered, but it really glows from within.  So pretty!  It was opaque in two coats, and I photographed it without top coat as it dried quite shiny.

Penny For Your Thoughts is a burnt orange holo.  Like Obsessed With Marilyn, this one is more jelly than the other holos, with a less dense holo effect, but really glows.  It's such a lovely fall color and opaque in two coats.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, this one stains pretty badly (bright yellowish stains), however, I scrubbed my nails with a toothbrush and my Arm & Hammer toothpaste, and about 90% of the stains came off.  I then lightly buffed after and they were gone.  You could also do a soak of lemon and baking soda.  You may want to avoid this one if that sounds like too much to handle though!

Burning Embers is a gorgeous, deep bronze with a stunning burgundy duochrome shimmer.  It shifts red, gold, and green and is packed with flakes and multicolored shimmer, so it's super sparkly!  Totally Fall appropriate, and has a perfect formula; opaque in two coats.  I'm not wearing top coat in the photos.

 

Sherwood Forest is a deep teal green jelly base, with red, orange, gold, blue, and green duochrome shimmer, as well as some multicolored shimmer that really shines in direct lighting.  This is another one of my favorites, and so Fall appropriate.  It was slightly sheer, so I used three thin coats for the photos, without top coat.

I hope you all enjoyed the swatches!  My picks are Sandy We Ain't In Kansas Anymore, Seasons of Change, and My Broken Down Crop Duster.  Make sure you head over to Llarowe if you've got your eye on any of these.  The first restock has now passed, but the second is at 7:00pm MDT!

You can also find more information about Colors by Llarowe here:
Instagram: http://instagram.com/colorsbyllarowe
Twitter: http://twitter.com/colorsbyllarowe
Facebook: http://facebook.com/colorsbyllarowe
CbL @ Harlow & Co: http://www.harlowandco.org/collections/colors-by-llarowe

Thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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#WNAC2014 - October / Fall: Gradient

Hello everyone!

Friday was the second post for our Weekly Nail Art Challenge, and the theme was gradient.

I love a good gradient base; it always makes my nail art that much more special, I think.  I was already wearing a really pretty magenta plum shade (CND Plumville), so I decided to just add a dark gradient on top to make it a bit more "Fall", using Julep Jodi and A England Lancelot.

 

 I was really happy with the gradient, but of course I couldn't leave it alone, so I created a flower petal pattern using Love & Beauty (Forever 21) Ivory and my 18/0 Round brush from Michael’s.

The design was sort of inspired by a leaf print I found last week on Pinterest, so that's where the idea came from, although I figured flower petals would be prettier with the base colors.

I’m posting this a few days late (surprise, surprise), because I decided to film a tutorial for the design, so I hope you all enjoy it!

And here's a reminder of the challenge for the month, if you missed last weeks post:

I hope you all enjoyed this post, and thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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Colors by Llarowe I Love Candy Corn Halloween 2014 Swatches & Review

Hi everyone!

Colors by Llarowe has an amazing Halloween trio this year, which will restock today over on their shop.  I will be sharing my swatches of the collection with you today, which consists of two holographic jelly polishes, and a metallic polish packed with flakes.  I believe it's the final time this set will be available, so grab them if you can, before they're gone!

Punkin' is a pumpkin orange holographic jelly.  This is a really beautiful warm orange, with a great holographic effect.  Since it's a jelly, it's slightly sheer, but it covered well in two coats.  I am not wearing top coat in the photo below, as the jellies dried very shiny.

Witchipoo is a warm yellow holographic jelly.  I really love the effect and even the color of this one, but it's a bit sad on my long nails, because I have such a visible tips.  As you can tell, it's quite sheer; I had to apply four thin coats, and while the end result isn't too bad (and dried fast), four coats is a lot for it to still have such a visible line.  That said, I'm sure this is probably amazing on shorter nails, so keep that in mind.

What Knockers! is a blackened charcoal metallic polish, packed with coppery orange flakes.  I saved the best for last, because this one is so awesome, and perfect for this time of year.  The flakes are so beautiful in person, and seem to almost shift a bit red in the light.  Just gorgeous.  I'm wearing two coats in the photo, and one coat of top coat smoothed it out really nicely.

The Colors by Llarowe Halloween 2014 Trio will be available today at 12:00pm MDT and again at 7:00pm MDT.  There will also be a preorder for their Fall 2014 collection (which is insanely gorgeous), and I should have my swatches up a bit later on today, so stay tuned!

I hope you all enjoyed the swatches, and thank you for reading! :)

Kristin

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