Color4Nails Crystalline Nail Veil Review

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  The other day I received a new product in the mail-- a bottle of Color4Nails Crystalline Nail Veil, one of a new generation of nail art cleanup products.  I admit to having a fairly elongated "Oooookaaaay....." moment as I realized what I was being asked to review because these products are primarily used to make water marbling and stamping cleanup a whole lot easier.  If you check out my label cloud in my lower right sidebar, you might note my experience and interest in such art... and, well, art in general.  

Color4Nails Crystalline Nail Veil

Baroness X Poison Apple

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  I see red.

  The lovely Demi of Baroness X graciously noted my love of all things crimson and offered to send me a bottle of Poison Apple, a deep and delectable brown-red from her Snow White collection.  How could I say no?  This thing is gorgeous.  And is it just me, or does this work as a Marsala polish, too?

Baroness X Poison Apple

L'Oreal Masked Affair

  It's official, kids-- 2015 has seen its first super hyped nail polish.  Technically, it is a very late 2014 release but I only just found mine and I know nailistas everywhere are scouring their local (and beyond) drugstores trying to hunt this thing down.
  "This thing" is L'Oreal Masked Affair, singular in the fact that it is the first drugstore brand holographic polish in years (I'm thinking since the Nail Prisms of the early 2000s?), even more so because it is linear, and one with a decent strength, at that.  I only wish I had some sun in which to show this beauty off...

L'Oreal Masked Affair

Enchanted Polish December 2014

  Enchanted Polish is one of those brands shrouded in a certain exclusivity.  They're hard to come by organically and generally resell for exorbitant amounts on ebay and I've just never been interested.  A few Sundays ago, though, I happened to be online in the right place at the right time and, having an "Ahh, what the hekk" moment, decided to preorder the December 2014 mystery polish.

  I pay enough attention to know that Enchanted Polish has, for the last year or two, been releasing secret monthly exclusive polishes, color and finish unknown until the purchaser opens the solid black box, or until someone starts posting spoilers.  As of last night, a google search yielded nothing on this month's offering, so I thought it best to lead off with an alert (because I simply could not wait to get it on my nails and show it off... it's that pretty). **edited-- alert removed (in case you couldn't tell)**

Enchanted Polish December 2014

Celestial Eternal Peace and October LE

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Celestial October LE and Eternal Peace

  Hi, everyone!!  I hope you all had a great weekend and if you did anything for Halloween, I hope you had a fantastic time.  C and I went to the coast with some good friends.  My dressing up consisted of black lipstick, at which C didn't even bat an eye because he's apparently now used to me wearing that sort of thing (it didn't take long, lol).  Anyway, we're back home, tired, happy, and ready to face the holiday season, I think... 

  There's a lot of exciting things happening at etailer Color4Nails this November and this week's going to be dedicated to sharing some of that with you.  First up are a couple new Celestial colors.  Eternal Peace is a Color4Nails exclusive, a beautiful and serene shade of lavender creme kissed by a subtle linear holo effect.  Two coats of polish, no topcoat.

piCture pOlish Eyre and Solar Flare Prettiness

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  Hi all!!  Sometimes my photos just plain hack me off but I'm so excited to tell you all about a certain polish that I go ahead and post, regardless of how much my photos do not do the polishes justice.  So, prior posts I'm not 100% thrilled with, combined with my compulsion to take pictures of my nails every time I change my polish, lolol, drove me to try and show these sparkly piCture pOlish beauties in a better light (that, and I'm super stoked seeing all the new piCture pOlish collaboration releases).

piCture pOlish Eyre

OPI How Great Is Your Dane? + My Voice Is a Little Norse

  Hi everyone!!  I've got the last of my OPI Nordic mini collection on my nails today, and I'll just let the company's delectable description of this one lead the way.

  How Great Is Your Dane? is described as a cinnamon coffee and I'll admit that the power of suggestion has me sold, even if it doesn't feel altogether accurate.  Cinnamon gives me a sense that there should be some sort of red undercurrent here but it's pretty much a straightforward dark toned mushroom shade, an updated version of OPI You Don't Know Jacques {HERE}.  How Great Is Your Dane? is a creme that leans a little thin-- I used two coats but patchiness tells me I should have gone with three.  Finished with one layer of topcoat.

OPI How Great Is Your Dane? + My Voice Is a Little Norse

piCture pOlish Solar Flare

  Good morning, all!!  Cooler weather means duochrome season is upon us and despite my love for eye searing holos, I can't WAIT!!  But first, as morning and evening cools and the daytime is still sweltering, let us revel in the amazing hybrid polish creation that is... the Duochrome Holo.  Observe piCture pOlish Solar Flare.

piCture pOlish Solar Flare

Gloss N Sparkle Symmetry, Above Deck, and Harlot

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Gloss N Sparkle Symmetry, Above Deck, and Harlot

  Hi everyone!  Gloss N Sparkle is a new to me Aussie indie line of gorgeous effects polishes.  I'm excited to show you three of their core line.

OPI Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm? + OPI My Voice is a Little Norse

  Good morning, all!!  I haven't really been that interested in OPI's offerings this year, but something about this fall/winter's Nordic collection had me sitting up and taking notice, if not completely falling all over myself excited.  Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm? seems to be the runaway favorite of the collection so I was happy to see that shade in the mini set.  I paired it with the collection's glitter topper, My Voice is a Little Norse.

OPI Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm? + OPI My Voice is a Little Norse

piCture pOlish Eyre

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  Happy Caturday, all!!  Picture Polish is one of the more prolific indie companies around and one that I've become familiar with through Christine at Polished Marvels.  In fact, if you're looking for an extensive Picture Polish swatch gallery, hers is fantastic, boasting 65 posts (including some art, all shown {HERE}).  For my part, I'm excited to finally be trying a polish from what I feel safe in assuming is one of my friend's favorite brands.

  This is Eyre, a blue violet metallic scattered holo.

piCture pOlish Eyre

Celestial Holo Saran Wrap Manicure

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  ART!!!  lol.  I was recently chatting with a friend about how I basically get a nervous tick whenever I think about leaving the house with multiple colors on my nails, when shortly thereafter, I got the notion to do another saran wrap manicure.  And, since it's summer and holos abound, I decided to do one using a few of the not inconsiderable rainbow of holos available from Celestial Cosmetics.  Observe.

Celestial Cosmetics Meteoroid and Aurora

  Remember when you first started your nail polish hobby, and every other color was just mindblowingly fascinating?  And your stash grew, and things just kind of got less exciting, just because you'd already seen so much, and more or less knew what to expect?  It's the whole magic of the first time thing and when you're years into a hobby, things just don't fascinate you nearly as often, nor in quite the same way.  Sometimes, though, a polish will come along and grab you to the point where you've just got to have it and BAM, that magic is back again.  That happened to me twice, recently, perhaps in part because they're both from one of my very favorite indies, so I already knew the formulas would be outstanding, but also because they both collectively share everything I love in an effects polish-- holo, duochrome, and glassfleck.  Allow me to present Celestial Cosmetics Meteoroid and Aurora.

Repin Any Of This and It's Curtains For Ya. Independence Day Manicure #3

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  Hi all!!  All these pretty Independence Day manicures all over the place, featuring, like, art and whatnot, made me want to try some new stuff, leopard print in particular.  THIS POST by Ruby's Nails pushed me over the edge to remove my nearly fresh Magical Pixie Dust manicure (no small feat, if you've ever worn one of those polishes) and give some red, white, and blue spots a try, especially upon reading how easy they are. 

  I looked up a tutorial first (not doing so being a mistake I've made in the past that I wasn't interested in replicating).  Jezebel.com was the first link I clicked on, and indeed, the technique looked simple enough.

Celestial Cosmetics Trip-- The Electric You Collection, Summer 2014

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  Hi all!!  I seriously cannot bend my mind around the fact that it's almost July.  I actually showed up to work 45 minutes late on Monday because I was certain it was only the 16th and so followed that schedule (muh bad for not switching it out on my cork board where there is also, incidentally, a calendar).  Walking into work to choruses of "Oh THERE you are!" is so much fun, lol.

  Anyway, let's move forward in my latest Celestial Cosmetics holo fest.  I've showed you two of the six neon holos from the upcoming Celestial Cosmetics/Color4Nails collaboration collection, The Electric You (Inception and Merge).  This one is Trip, a totally unique jelly based bright pumpkin linear holo that I can't really classify as neon, even over a white base.  Still, it's a fun color with a typical easy to apply Celestial formula and I dig the name.  Here it is on its own, two coats and one layer of topcoat.

Celestial Cosmetics Trip

Teal/Aqua Holo Comparison

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  Hi friends!!  Teal/aqua holos are some of my favorites and I realized the other day that I've amassed a little collection of them.  Of course, I was curious about how much they each have in common.

l to r-- Jade Energy, Celestial Cosmetics Inception, Celestial Cosmetics Ocean Mist, a-England Saint George

  They all look somewhat similar in their bottles, with slight variations.  The two Celestials bear the closest resemblance, with Inception pulling just a little more blue, and Energy and Saint George look surprisingly similar in their bottles, the biggest differences being the type and spacing of the holo particles.  On the nail, it's all a surprisingly, in all but one case, different story.

Celestial Cosmetics Merge-- The Electric You Collection, Summer 2014

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  Hi all!!  I've got on another smokin' neon holo from Celestial Cosmetics and Color4Nails summer 2014 collaboration collection, The Electric You.  This one is Merge, a beautiful, bright rosy pink jelly based linear holo.  Shown two coats under one layer of topcoat.  I think this is just about the prettiest holo I've seen so forgive the amount of photos you're about to see, lol.  The formula is textbook Celestial, minimal cleanup, practically applying itself.

Celestial Cosmetics Merge

 

Celestial Cosmetics Inception-- The Electric You Collection, Summer 2014

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  Hi all!!  I feel another Celestial Cosmetics holofest coming on ;) This Aussie indie polish brand  is one of my very favorite indies for their wide array of gorgeous linear holo shades with perfect formulas.  Celestial and etailer Color4Nails have teamed up again to bring us a collaborative summer collection of neon holos, called The Electric You.  

  Because these holos are neons, it's suggested that they be worn over a white base.  I found Inception, a jelly based, bright and watery turquoise, to be perfect without (and all's the better without the telltale line of white that tends to peek through at the cuticle line).  I used two coats of Inception and one layer of topcoat.

Celestial Cosmetics Inception

Introducing Joss Affinite

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  Good morning, everyone!!  A package of polishes in a brand totally new to me arrived in my mailbox the other day.  Joss Affinite is an Australian brand of professional salon lacquers that come in glitter and holo finishes.

  Sudden Impulse is a straightforward, fun, and gorgeous quinacridone red linear holo. 

Celestial Cosmetics Holo-fest!!!

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  Hi everyone!!  Celestial Cosmetics makes some of the prettiest linear holos I've ever seen, and I'm continually impressed with creator Nicki's color innovations and spectrum.  Today I get to share with you a veritable rainbow of rainbows.  I used two coats of each color, and the formula on each is the same-- impeccably easy to apply.  All six are jelly based.  All photos taken in a lightbox because the sun is keeping its distance around these parts.

  First up is Mrs. Claus' Jugs (really?), a bright spring green holo.  I'm always happy to see a green holo, and one with lots of yellow-- too much blue in a green pulls all the red from my skin.  It's a little on the sheer side.  I could have/should have done three coats and it would have been just fine.