SAFS: Brooke Anderson by Gabriel Cosmetics

*Disclaimer

Hello dolls!

Happy Sunday to you all :)  For today's SAFS post, I have swatcheses from the Brooke Anderson by Gabriel Cosmetics Nail Collection to share with you.  I posted a press release about these polishes last month and am thrilled to have a couple to show you...

Gabriel Cosmetics - Hush Hush

Hush Hush is a steel grey, shimmery creme polish that definitely surprised me!  I'm not usually into shimmer polishes, but the formula and finish on this one is amazing.  It applied like butter and is practically a one coater (which we all know I LOVE!).  Shown is 2 coats with top coat.

 Gabriel Cosmetics - Shine Y'all

Shine Y'all is a holographic glitter bomb that certainly did not disappoint!  Application was a breeze and the holo shift/sparkle is to dies for.  This polish dances beautifully even in the dimmest of lighting.  It has definitely earned a place among my favorites in my collection :)  Shown is 2 coats with top coat.

The Brooke Anderson by Gabriel Cosmetics Nail Collection is available now through the holidays at www.gabrielcosmeticsinc.com and retail individually for $8.50.

I'll be back later on today with some swatches of my "untried" polishes that are in of some lovin' ;)

Until next time!

Stef <3

* This product was provided to me for review.  I received no payment or other compensation for the review of this product.  The opinions stated here are completely my own.  The contents of this review are based on my direct experience with this product.

Delush Supreme Scream Collection

*Disclaimer

Hello dolls!

It's been a cool minute since my last post, but I'm back with an epic swatch fest... get excited!  Today's collection is brought to you by Delush Polish and I'm obsessed.  The Supreme Scream Collection is inspired by the show American Horror Story.  While I have never watched the show (I'm a big scaredy pants), I think these glitter-packed polishes are on point!  They look amazing both glossy and matte, so I'm showing you those options as well...

Delush Polish - Bitchcraft

More after the jump...

SAFS: KBShimmer Winter 2014 Collection

*Disclosure

Hello dolls!

For today's edition of "Sunday's Are For Swatching", I have a selection of colors from KBShimmer's Winter 2014 Collection...

I am over the moon with these polishes!  They're all so fantastic, so let's get started ;)

KBShimmer - Flake Dance

Flake Dance is a holo glitter topper with a smattering of hexes, circles, micro and snowflake glitters.  I used the "dab & drag" method when applying this polish, with some glitter placement for the snowflakes.  Shown is 1 coat over a blue base with base and top coats used to smooth the glitters.

 KBShimmer - Let's Sleigh Together

Let's Sleigh Together is a pale grey crelly with a mix of green navy and mint hexes, blue circles and holo micro glitters.  I really loves this one.  Application was an easy, creamy breeze!  Shown is 2 coats with top coat.

KBShimmer -  Merry Pinkmas

Merry Pinkmas is a returning Christmas favorite for KBShimmer!  It's a cotton candy crelly that featured a variety of red, green and neon glitters in lots of shapes and sizes.  Shown is 2 coats with top coat.

 KBShimmer - Fallen Angle

No... that's not a typo!  Haha Fallen Angle is a royal blue jelly with holo blue triangles, siver and blue hexes and mirco glitters mixed in.  Get it?  Angle??  Because of the triangles???  Just making sure ;) I took some extra care applying this one.  I wanted to be sure I got a good spread of glitters.  Application wasn't difficult. Shown is 2 coats with topcoat.

KBShimmer - White Here, White Now

White Here, White Now is a snowy textured polish.  It's so fun!  Application was really easy with great coverage, even in the first coat.  Shown is 2 coats, no top coat.

 KBShimmer - Sugar Plum Faerie

Another returning favorite this season, Sugar Plum Faerie is a plum crelly with berry, purple and lime holo glitters mixed in.  When applying, the first coat was more sheer than I expected. But it was very easy to work with and by the second coat, I was golden.  Shown is 2 coats with top coat.

 KBShimmer - Pine-ing For Yule

Pine-ing For Yule is the 2014 Toys For Tots charity polish.  It's adorbs!  This glitter topper is Christmas tree inspired with a mix of green triangles, red stars, silver hexes and micro glitters.  I had absolutely no issue with the glitters coming out of the bottle; this is a very compacted polish.  I used the "dab & drag" method again in my application.  Shown is 1 coat over a white base with base and top coats used to smooth the glitters.  For each bottle sold at kbshimmer.com from 11/1 - 12/15, $4 will be donated to Toys For Tots.

 KBShimmer - Too Cold To Hold

Too Cold To Hold is a sapphire blue base filled with holo silver, blue, and green glitters for a bejeweled textured look.  It is by far my favorite; just sooooo pretty!!  Application was smooth and easy.  Shown is 2 coats with top coat.

The full Winter 2014 collection will be released on 11/1.  You can see a sneak peek of the entire collection here ;)

I'll be back later this week with some more Halloween nail art...

Until next time!

Stef <3

* This product was provided to me for review.  I received no payment or other compensation for the review of this product.  The opinions stated here are completely my own.  The contents of this review are based on my direct experience with this product.

SAFS: Dragon Claw Polish!

*Disclosure

Hello lovelies!

Welcome to another edition of "Sunday's Are For Swatching"!  Today's swatches are brought to you by a new indie brand on the scene, Dragon Claw Polish...

Dragon Claw Polish is launching their brand with 3 collections starting November 7th.  I received one of the collections to swatch and share with you, my lovely readers :)  This grouping of four beauties is called "The Girls of Famous Asian", inspired by four of the girls that maker Janet works with at a restaurant she runs...

 Dragon Claw Polish - Nessa

Nessa is described as a gorgeous, vampy, quiet person with a touch of flair!

 

 This is a lavender chrome jelly with a nice mix of scattered holos that really sets the polish off.  It is sheer when first applying, but with 2 coats opacity was easily achieved.

 Dragon Claw Polish - Bren

Bren is describe as a hard working person.  Like a great pair of denim jeans; she is reliable and can hold up to anything!

This is a sparkly, denim blue polish that was a dream to apply!  It is packed with blue micro glitter that were a breeze to clean up in my "messy spots".  Two coats shown.

 Dragon Claw Polish - GEO

GEO is described as a smart, edgy, hard worker with a touch of glamorous attitude!

This polish is a mix of black stripe, gold square, gold hex and micro silver glitters in a clear base.  I applied 2 coats over a white base.  The glitter smoothed out very nicely when top coated (I will talk more about the top coat at the end of this review...)

 Dragon Claw Polish - Bea

Bea is described as a happy and friendly person who gives off a positive and calming vibe :)

This polish is definitely my favorite of the four!  It is a gorgeous cerulean blue with bright hex and micro holo glitter mixed in.  This is anothe sheer jelly that built up beautifully in 3 thin coats.  I had difficulty getting the bright hexes out with the brush.  I had to do some fishing and glitter placement, but it was worth the effort because this polish is just so pretty!

Dragon Claw Polish - Diamond Claw Top Coat

Now I have to tell you about this top coat... Oh my word is it amazing!!  I applied it over each polish that I swatched and it's probably one of the fastest drying top coats I've ever used (which is saying a lot since it took me about 2 years to find my staple top coat!).  The very first time I applied it, I was in shock.  By the time I got to painting my pinky nail, my thumb was already dry to the touch!  Even more than that, the top coat passed my "3 minute rub test" where I rub my thumb 3 mins after application.  There was no smudging.  None!  To top it all off, 10 mins after that I did the "smush/fingerprint test",  and while some firm pressing did leave an imprint on my nail, before my eyes the imprint refilled itself like it was receiving a botox injection and went back to it's smooth and glossy state.  Amazing!!

Over all I was pleasantly surprised by this new brand.  I am so excited to see what happens in it's future! 

As stated previously, these polish will be available for purchase HERE on November 7th along with the other 2 collections.  You can follow Dragon Claw Polish on Facebook for updates and product news :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

* This product was provided to me for review.  I received no payment or other compensation for the review of this product.  The opinions stated here are completely my own.  The contents of this review are based on my direct experience with this product.

SAFS: Essie's Shine of the Times!

Happy Sunday lovelies!

I have another edition of "Sunday's Are For Swatching!" for you and this one features an HTF (hard to find)/retired beauty...

This... is Essie's "Shine of the Times".  This has been a lemming of mine for a very very VERY long time.  And it's finally mine...

 

Essie - Shine of the Times (over black)

Shine of the Times is a flakie topper that Essie released in their Holiday 2011 Luxe Effects Collection.  It was a pretty big deal when it came out.  At the time both Sally Hansen and Nubar had had great success with flakie toppers that they had released and Essie was looking to step out of their "we only make cremes" comfort zone.  So they released a line of interesting glitter toppers which included this beauty.

 SOTT shifts between an array of colors depending on what color is is paired with.  When over black, it you get a lot of red-orange and green shifting (I used KBShimmer Eclipse as my black base color).

 

 Essie - Shine of the Times (over blue)

I decided to pull out another HTF polish to see how they paired (I know... I'm such a stinker!).  This is Revlon Royal, an unbelievably gorgeous cobalt crelly.  SOTT looks almost rose gold over blue.

 

 Essie - Shine of the Times (jelly sandwich)

Last I wanted to see what it would look like in a jelly sandwich.  So I layered it between Loaded Lacquer's Acai Berry (man oh man does that girls know how to make a good jelly!).  Paired with this maroon, SOTT showed a lot of yellow and fiery orange.

In all of these swatches I only used one coat of SOTT.  This polish really is jam packed with flakies and I didn't need very much on the brush to get the effect I wanted :)

 Flakie perfection!

Now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Since this polish is 3 years old a lot of ladies are "putting it out to pasture", which is a good thing if you're someone like me who missed the flakie boat!  I happened to find this one in a girls destash that I ran across on Instagram.  I've been seeing them pop up again on eBay and Amazon as well.  They ARE out there, it's just a matter of how much you're willing to pay.  Personally I purchased 3 polishes from this girls destash and offered her $15 and she gladly accepted (I got very lucky).  Keeps hunting lovies!

Also, don't forget to enter the giveaway I am hosting with my MUA bestie Operatic Makeup!  The giveaway closes at midnight tonight (PST)...

Until next time!

SAFS: She Nail Polish Fall Collection

Hello dolls!

I hope you all have enjoyed your weekend!  Today I have another edition of "Sunday's Are For Swatching" for you :D  This Sunday I have the Fall Collection from a newer indie, She Nail Polish (*disclaimer)...

I'm so excited to share these polishes with you, so let's get started!

 Unbothered

This stormy grey creme stole my heart!  I just think it's so beautiful; the perfect grey that every girl needs in her collection.  I love how reminiscent it is of cool Fall days.  Very "sweater weather"-esque.  This applied in 2 easy coats with top coat.

 Oh, Tiff!

You can't do wrong with a Tiffany's blue!  This is another beautiful creme polish in this collection.  I think this color complimented me best of all the polishes.  It's just a bright and happy polish :)  Although slightly streaky, this applied to full opaqueness in 3 thin coats with top coat.

 Chances

Oh, I am a sucker for yellow polish!  This yellow creme has so opalescent flakies goin' on that I really loved (you can see is best if you click on the bottle shot).  The trouble with yellows is they love to be streaky!  I used 3 thin coats for full opaqueness with very little trouble.  Top coat helped to smoth everything out.

 Cocoa Creme

Now, I'm not usually a fan of browns but this creme is a stunner!  It is just pure chocolate goodness!!  I seriously wanted to eat my fingers just looking at it haha.  2 easy coats and top coat shown :)

Before Midnight

This polish.  Oh. This. Polish!  This one is magic!!  One coat wonder and all.  The color is gorgeous and it applied like butter.  I almost didn't top coat it because it dried super shiny on it's own, but I wanted to be consistent.  This is a new favorite in my collection :D

 Dirty Red

A classic red that is ever so ruddy, I love love love this one!  I have seen a few swatches of this polish and I really do think it's a perfect red; it just looks classically beautiful on everyone.  This applied in 2 easy coats with top coat :)

She Nail Polish can be purchased online and retail at $6.00 per bottle (a steal for a quality indie!).

I really hope you enjoyed this post :)  My goal with the Sunday swatch segment is to share polishes that I am excited about and think are worth the money you're paying.  It's kind of like being a guinea pig lol.

Until next time!

Stef <3

* This product was provided to me for review.  I received no payment or other compensation for the review of this product.  The opinions stated here are completely my own.  The contents of this review are based on my direct experience with this product.