China Glaze Electropop Collection Spring 2012 Brights Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon once again my fellow lacquered lovers!  I hope you all enjoyed Part 1 of this collection earlier!  As promised, here is Part Two of my China Glaze Electropop review featuring the Brights half of the collection!

Now when I first got this promo photo, this was definitely the half of the collection I was most excited for!  I love bright colors in the spring and summer and these looked so amazing!  I am happy to report that they did NOT disappoint!  So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  Two coats of Aquadelic

I love aqua!  Really, I love aqua and light blues for anything, but in nail polish, it's just gorgeous AND has the added bonus of making my deathly pale hands look slightly tan!  Amazing!  Aquadelic is a gorgeous aqua creme with just the right mix of a little bit of green into it.  I love how shiny and bright it looks!  Perfectly opaque in 2 coats, great application, I just love it!  I can guarantee I will be wearing this a ton!  However I do fear that this might be a pretty close dupe to China Glaze's classic color For Audrey so I will compare and get back to you!  Either way, this is a great color!

Above:  Two coats of Sunshine Pop

Sunshine Pop might be one of the best ever instances of naming a polish something that perfectly fits it!  Other than Gothic Lolita from the Lights half of the collection, Sunshine Pop is the only shimmer!  Now I'm always apprehensive with yellows because they tend to make my hands look like a corpse, but this one kind of works!  It's not highlighter bright so you can get away with it, and the shimmer softens it so it's more like a darker, sparkly yellow rather than in your face!  I really like it!  The formula on this was slightly more thin than the rest of the collection and I'm guessing that three thin coats might work better than 2 thicker ones, but either way, I may have finally found a yellow I can wear!

Above:  Two coats of Gaga for Green

A green I can wear!  So exciting!  Gaga for Green is a gorgeous bright green cream that's not too yellow based and just looks super pretty on!  Gaga for Green was practically a one coater, it's definitely the most thick polish in the bunch, but I still love it.  What a fun color for spring!

Above:  Two coats of Make Some Noise

Make Some Noise was a surprise love of mine from this collection!  I'm not usually one for coral-reds, I prefer more blue toned reds, but this just looks so fun!  Is it possible that my polish tastes are changing and I'm starting to like pink looking colors?  Make Some Noise honestly reminds me of a watermelon every time I see it, it just looks so bright and juicy and appealing!  Per the rest of the collection, Make Some Noise is perfectly opaque in two coats, no streaks and lots of pigment!

Above:  Two coats of Wicked Style

Wicked Style is the last creme from this collection.  Wicked Style is a Raspberry meets pink meets coral creme.  I realize that's a lot of colors in one but I don't know how else to describe it!  To be honest, I like Fuchsia Fanatic better as a bright pink shade from this collection, but either one is nice!  Fully opaque in two coats, the formula on this was great and it's another nice pink for the collection.

 Above:  1 coat of Techno over 2 coats Wicked Style

Above:  1 coat Techno over 2 coats Aquadelic

Last but certainly not least is Techno.  Now, Techno is a re-release from a specialty glitter collection a few years ago that they are putting out again as part of the Electropop Brights collection.  I actually already had a bottle of this but bought another because I love it!  Small and large hexagonal holographic glitter?  Yes please!  Talk about instantly brightening up basically any manicure!

So there you have it, the Brights half of the China Glaze Electropop collection!  I was really pleasantly surprised by this collection, I love how bright and cheerful it is and I love that the colors actually looked nice against my skin tone!

What do you think of this half of the collection?  Any must haves?  Any dupes?

*Note some of the products in this post were sent to me for review, the rest I paid for.  For more information, please see the Disclosure Policy above.

China Glaze Electropop Collection Spring 2012 Lights Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Today I am going to show you the entire new Spring Collection from China Glaze called Electropop!  Since there are 12 polishes in total, I am breaking it down into two separate posts, one for the Lights and one for the Brights!  Up first is the Lights!

It seems to me that there are definitely some brights in here but on a whole, it is lighter than the Brights part!  The picture above was part of China Glaze's press release on this collection.  I was super excited when I saw this collection because the colors just seem so fun!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  Two coats of Fuchsia Fanatic

Up first if Fuchsia Fanatic, one of several pink based polishes in this collection!  This color just looks like summer to me!  It's so bright and almost juicy looking!  Fuchsia Fanatic is a bright fuchsia creme that is just gorgeous!  Perfectly opaque in two coats, tons of pigment, it's just great!  I think this may be a perfect pedicure color this spring!

Above:  2 coats of Dance Baby

Dance Baby is a lighter pink creme.  This color doesn't do too much for me as I feel it's very dupable and light pinks just aren't my thing, but as a polish, the formula was great.  Opaque in two coats, lots of pigment, if you're a pink lover or are looking for a pink polish to add to your collection, this would be a good one!

Above:  2 coats of Electric Beat

Electric Beat is one of my favorite colors from this collection!  I guess I'd call this color periwinkle but it also reminds me of really faded denim!  This is just a gorgeous blue creme for spring, it's not too bright and just looks really flattering on!  As with the others, perfectly opaque in 2 coats, no issue with the formula, and it's just a gorgeous color!  I'll be getting a lot of use from this one!

Above:  2 coats of Kinetic Candy

Sorry about the messy application here!  I didnt' even notice it until I blew the photos up!  Oh well, no one is perfect, right?  :)  Kinetic Candy is a gorgeous light blue creme that has undertones of grey that give it a slightly dusty look.  I love it!  Blue is one of the few pastel shades that I truly love and Kinetic Candy did not disappoint!  Perfect application, no streaks, opaque in two coats, I just love it!

Above:  Two coats of Sweet Hook

Sweet Hook basically demonstrates the other type of pastel I love in the Spring which is a light purple.  I love that this isn't too blue based so it has a slightly warmer look to it unlike many other light purple polishes.  I was also pleasantly surprised that this was streak free!  Usually light purples are super streaky for some reason but this one applied great!  Fully opaque in 2 coats, I love this one!

Above:  Two coats of Gothic Lolita

Now, if it was up to me, I would have put Gothic Lolita in the Brights category, but what can you do?  I love Gothic Lolita!  First of all, I love the name!  Secondly, it's a fantastic purple that's packed with reddish/pinkish and blue shimmer.  The purple itself is more red toned so it's warmer than a lot of purple's we've seen from other Spring Collections so far, and this is just a warm, gorgeous purple.  Gothic Lolita was fully opaque in 2 coats, lots of pigment, and gotta love that shimmer amongst all these cremes!  This is also the least dupable polish in this half of the collection in my opinion.

So there you have it, the Lights portion of the China Glaze Electropop Collection.  A lot of these cremes we've seen before by other brands but honestly, I still like them and I really like China Glaze's formula!  They somehow found a way to make non-streaky pastels which is a feat!  These polishes are available for sale now and run from about $5-$7 depending where you are.

What do you think of this half of the collection?  Any must haves?  Any dupes?

*Note some of the products in this post were sent to me for review, the rest I paid for.  For more information, please see the Disclosure Policy above.

Zoya Gems and Jewels Collection Holiday 2011 Swatches and Review

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I'm a bit late to the party on this one but let me start with a story.  I always thought that bar glitter looked weird.  In fact, to me it looked kind of hairy.  Because of this, I didn't originally purchase the Zoya Gems and Jewels Collection when it was released back in November of 2011.  Fast forward a month and I won a Twitter contest held by Glamour Magazine and Zoya and won the whole collection!

I was so excited!  So, even though I'm late on these swatches and reviews, hopefully you enjoy them!  Below you will see each other foils followed by their corresponding bar glitter!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Izzy

First up is Izzy, which I surprisingly loved!  I say surprisingly because I'm not really a pink person but this magenta is gorgeous!  Practically a one coater but I did 2 for full coverage and it looks gorgeous!  The foil finish is just perfect!

Above:  2 coats Izzy under 1 coat Kissy

Kissy is the matching polish to Izzy.  Kissy is small pink glitter with pink, purple, silver and holographic bar glitter.  While it does look a bit hairy to me, I kind of love it!  It's so festive and fun!  Plus it matches so perfectly with Izzy, what's not to love?

Above:  2 coats of Noel

Please excuse my lobster hands above!  I was still figuring out my lightbox!  Noel is a gorgeous medium blue with lots of silver foil.  I love it!  This was truly opaque in 2 coats but I added a second for good measure.  I love that you can really see the silver in this polish but it's definitely still blue!

Above:  1 coat of Twila over two coats of Noel

Noel is similar in consistency to Kissy however it's all blue glitter, both small round glitter and larger bar glitter, with the slightest hint of holographic bar glitter.  I would have liked the holographic to be a bit more pronounced and maybe seen another color, like purple mixed in, because all the blue to me just looks like hair blue nail polish!  I really wanted to love this polish but I think it was my least favorite of the collection.

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Holly

Holly was definitely my favorite foil of this collection.  It's a beautiful, deep, rich hunter green that just glows on the nail!  I seriously love this!  Perfectly opaque in 2 coats, so much pigment, this is the perfect holiday green!

Above:  1 coat Rina over 2 coats Holly

Rina is an almost all green glitter, with both small round green glitter and green bar glitter with just a hint of holographic bar glitter as well.  Even though it looks like hairy green, I kind of like it!  For some reason, this just works to me!

So there you have it, the Zoya Gems and Jewels Collection from Holiday 2011.  I love the foils and am slowly coming around to the bar glitter!  Zoya nail polishes are available on their website and are $8 each!

What did you think of this collection?  Any dupes?  Any must haves for you?

Barielle Gem Stone Earth Collection Spring 2012 Swatches and Review!

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend during this last weekend in January!  I had a weekend full of lots of swatching so get ready for some fun stuff this week!  First up, I have the new collection by Barielle for Spring 2012!

The Gem Stone Earth Collection is five shades in more neutral shades for spring.  However a few of the colors are really cool shimmery shades!  I was a bit apprehensive because I haven't had the best luck with Barielle polishes before, but they seem to have made some changes that are really helping them out as a brand!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  3 coats of Pink Quartz

First up in Pink Quartz.  I had a bit of trouble with the formula on this one, I found it to be very thick so rather than 2 coats like I would normally use for a cream, I tried 3 more thin coats.  After 2 coats it was a bit streaky but the third coat seemed to even it out.  I might try to add some thinner to it to see if I can work out the thickness problem because this is a great neutral shade for spring, and would be great as "underwear" for other colors as well!  I kind of think this was misnamed though, because to me, a shade with Quartz in the name should have some shimmer or sparkle to it since quartz is a sparkly stone, but that's just semantics at this point.

Above:  2 coats of Granite Glitter

I actually really love Granite Glitter!  It almost reminds me of a frostier version of Chanel Graphite.  Granite Glitter, while possibly misnamed because there isn't really glitter to it, is a very shimmery dark grey with the tiniest hints of sliver and a bit of green to it.  I just love how it looks on the nail!  This one the formula was great on, in fact it was practically a one coater but without being overly thick!  This is definitely one of my favorites from this collection!

Above:  2 coats of Amber Sparkler

Amber Sparkler is the brown twin sister of Granite Glitter!  Amber Sparkler is a really pretty brown/coppery shimmery polish.  You can see the tiniest hint of the brush stroke on this polish but honestly, I didn't notice it until I blew up my pictures to put them on here!  I actually really like this color for spring because it's neutral but still interesting, so it's not just a boring earth tone.  Amber Sparkler is opaque in two coats with no issues with the formula.

Above:  2 coats of Back to Nature

Back to Nature ran into a few of the same formula problems as Pink Quartz.  While it wasn't quite as thick, the formula was still far more thick and almost sticky than any of the shimmers.  I got away with two thin coats of Back to Nature for full coverage, but I definitely had to take my time and go much slower than usual with the application.  That being said, I think this nude is actually the perfect color for my skin tone!  I'm not much of a nude wearer, but maybe after a bit of thinner, this could also be used as an "underwear" polish for me.  If you are a nude wearer, beware that the formula will be thick but can be worked with.

Above:  2 coats of Green Opal

Last but most certainly not least is Green Opal.  I actually love this color!  The formula was great, two coats to full opaqueness and lots of pigment, and the color is pretty unique!  Green Opal is almost a light olive green with gold shimmer in it!  The gold shimmer gives it a warm tone and I just think this color is super pretty for the spring!  It's also not so bright or so green that you can't wear this polish anywhere and still feel a bit funky!  Green Opal is definitely a winner to me.

So there you have it, Barielle's new Spring 2012 collection.  I will say that Barielle has really stepped it up in my mind.  The formula on the cremes is still hard to work with and too thick to be easily applied, but I had no issues with the shimmers and really enjoyed the shimmers!  Barielle is available online and sign up for their newsletter because they run sales all the time!

What do you think of this collection?  Any must haves?  Any dupes?


*These products were sent to me for my unbiased review.  For more information, please read my disclosure policy.