Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light

This is 2 coats of Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light topped with one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat.

I had been lemming this polish since it was released.  Then I read reviews that the formula was problematic, so I opted to get Ray of Light's sister polish, Sweet Dreams, instead.  However, I couldn't kill the lemming.  So, when Ray of Light became available on Apothica.com, I snatched it up.

In the bottle, it is so, so pretty.  It's a deep, indigo jelly-ish creme loaded with multi-chrome flakies.  On the nail, however, it was a little disappointing.  It was thick, and yet runny all at the same time.  It also didn't want to self-level (as you can see on my ring finger).  Additionally, it dried a bit muddy, so you must use a topcoat, and I probably would use two coats of topcoat.  

All that said, It's still beautiful, so I am happy that I finally got my hands on it.  Just know that if you are lemming it, too, it's not the easiest polish to work with.  If you love the look of the multi-chrome flakies from Deborah Lippmann, I would first recommend picking up Sweet Dreams (because it's fantastic).  Also, please keep in mind that Deborah Lippmann's information states that this polish, as well as Sweet Dreams, have 3-D holographic flakies.  These flakies are not holographic, they are multichrome.  

Ray of Light is available through various online outlets, including Apothica.com.  Retail price is $18 a bottle.

Ray of Light was purchased by me from Apothica.com.  I used a gift card that I receive though my sponsorship agreement with Apothica.  The above links in this post link to a previous post on this blog, as well as to this product on Apothica's website and are not affiliate links.

Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams

Several days ago, I posted that I had become with obsessed with Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light.  Because of this obsession, I looked for any and all swatches of Ray of Light I could find and during said search, I learned that Ray of Light had a pink sister, Sweet Dreams.  Once I saw pics of it, I had to have it.  You mean mylar flakies in a hot pink jelly?  Okay... NEED.  LOL.  

Anyway, despite my lemmings, I'd been hemming and hawing on purchasing both Ray of Light and Sweet Dreams mainly because of availability.  Deborah Lippmann's site had both, but I didn't want to spend the amount to get the free shipping, so I had to find another source.  Turns out, HSN had Sweet Dreams, but not Ray of Light (it had gone out of stock).  But I still couldn't pull the trigger.  That was until I tweeted asking if I should get it or not.  Once Deborah Lippmann tweeted me back saying "I say YES" (!), I decided it had to be mine.  :)

I ordered it from HSN on 4/27/2012 and I just got it today.  Pretty good turn-around time (not like Zappos, but nothing is), but what sucks is that the bottle was completely broken.  And I really don't think it happened in shipment.  I've ordered Lippmanns from numerous locations and I've never received a broken bottle.  It looks like this one was dropped.  :(

Thankfully, HSN has online chat, so I was able to immediately chat with a representative.  If you are hesitating ordering from HSN, don't.  No questions asked I got a new bottle shipped out to me.  Their customer service was amazing (and customer service is one of my hot buttons).  That made me very happy, but I was also bummed because I had a bottle of pretty polish that I couldn't use and couldn't swatch.  It made my polish-loving heart very sad.  See...

Well, I decided to take a closer look at the broken bottle and I realized that if I was careful, I could open it and use it.  And that's what I did...

This is 3 coats of Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams with Nubar Diamont top coat.  I applied the top coat simply to add shine.  It wasn't bumpy at all.  

I knew I would love this polish and lemme tell you, I wasn't wrong.  It's amazing.  It's a bright, medium-toned, strawberry pink jelly loaded with duo-chrome mylar flakies, that don't get lost in the base color.  I needed all three coats to reach full opacity, but you are going to want those coats to achieve a layered affect with the flakies.  I know, I'm usually about fewer coats, but it dried quickly and the formula is very easy to work with.  

I am so happy I got this, even if I had to deal with a small issue (I do plan on decanting what's in the broken bottle into an old topcoat bottle).  And of course, now I can't get the Marilyn Manson version of "Sweet Dreams" out of my head (and I'm sure that wasn't Deborah's inspiration. LOL), but that's one of the reasons I bought it <blush> so that's okay.  :P

Sweet Dreams is currently available at Deborah Lippmann's website, as well as Nordstrom.com (they must have gotten it after I ordered from HSN).  I got mine from HSN.com, where it still available for $16, rather than the $18 elsewhere.

30 Days of Blues for Autism Awareness - Nubar 2010 over Barielle Berry Blue

Today is Day 21 in my "30 Days of Blues" for Autism Awareness.  Today's manicure is inspired by my complete obsession with Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light.  Seriously.  I stare at every swatch I can find and have my cart loaded on Lippmann's website.

Unfortunately, I've heard not-so-good things about the formula, and I just can't swing $16 right now for a polish with iffy formula.  So, this is my attempt at a reasonable facsimile...

This is 2 coats of Nubar 2010 (a mylar flakie topcoat similar to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure et al) over 2 coats of Barielle Berry Blue (a deep blue jelly-ish creme).  

I think this would have looked much better if I'd been able to use a true, deep blue jelly, rather than just a polish with a jelly-ish finish.  I tried to layer Berry Blue with 2010 and Berry Blue just covered up the flakies.  There was no "jelly sandwich" effect with this.  So, I opted just to use 2 coats of 2010 over the basecolor.  If I had to do it over again, I would probably go lighter with the flakies so it looks closer to the Lippmann.

I think this looks similar to Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light, but it's by no means a dupe, and at some point, I will probably end up purchasing Ray of Light and then complaining about the thick formula.  If you have a deep blue true jelly, I think you would be much more successful creating a dupe to Ray of Light.

Berry Blue and 2010 are both readily available, and both retail in the $8 range.

OPI Nice Stems Review

Again, I'm trying to play catch-up with all the collections I received during my unplanned hiatus.  Nice Stems is OPI's summer 2011 collection.  I loved it from my first glance at the PR pics.  I mean... come on... a collection of all pink.  I may think pink to be a commonplace when it comes to nail polish, but it's still my favorite color.  Hence, OPI had me at hello.  :P

Be a Dahlia, Won't You? - bright fuchsia shimmer.  In the bottle, this one reminded me of Ali's Big Break.  However, it didn't have the metallic sheen.  Nonetheless, this is a beautiful color.  It also has a subtle blue flash (as you can see in my picture).  Formula was great.  2 coats.

Come to Poppy - Coral pearl.  This one is a hard one to describe.  It's not peach, it's not pink, and while I think it's a coral, it also reminds me of those salmon pink crayons from the Crayola box.  Honestly, when I put this one on, I thought I was going to hate it.  In fact, after I put it on, I hated it.  Then I took the pictures and I have to say that I really like it.  It quickly grew on me.  The formula on this one was fantastic.  It glided on the nail.  2 coats.

I Lily Love You (over Be a Dahlia, Won't You?) - Holo flakies in a pink clear base.  I was a little saddened that this one wasn't opaque, as this was the one I was most excited for, based on the PR pics.  Nonetheless, it's a nice top coat, especially over Dahlia.  It reminded me of a pink, more functional, version of CC Covered in Diamonds.  Also, over Dahlia, the gold tones in the flakies really pops.  One coat over the base.

Play the Peonies - pale pink pearl with silver micro-shimmer.  This one is crazy pretty, and I really wasn't expecting much from it.  However the color is beautiful.  It's pink, but it almost looks like a colored white, if that makes sense.  The finish is pearly, not frosty, which doesn't age my hands.  And the micro-shimmer is subtle, but gives depth to the color.  This one really made me wish I had darker skin and pretty feet, as it would look amazing as a summer pedi.  3 coats.

All in all, I really liked it.  Dahlia and Poppy are beautiful, as is Peony.  I think Lily is a bit of a miss, as it's not really usable on it's own, but as a TC for brighter colors, I think it works.  It's a nice collection.  Certainly nothing revolutionary, but it's pretty for summer.

These were send to me for review

A couple Sephora by OPI swatches

Sephora by OPI is a new brand to me. For some reason, I've never gotten around to trying it. I guess it irked me that retail on these is $9, whereas you can get a regular OPI in the $5 range.

However, Sephora recently offered $15/$20 gift cards to their Beauty Insiders and VIBs and due to an online loophole, you can use it without any minimums. So I decided to pick up a couple SOPIs. Using my GC, I got 2 SOPI polishes, my 500 point perk Philosophy gift set, a deluxe mini of Marc Jacobs Daisy, and 3 samples, for less than $6 shipped. Not too shabby.

As these polishes were essentially free, I wasn't too picky about which ones I chose. I just looked a few online swatches and picked 2 that were sparkly and shiny. I ended up getting 212-Sephora and Looks Like Rain, Dear.

212-Sephora - Smoky, deep browned-charcoal base with small copper flakies, rainbow, holo glitter, and golden microglitter. Woohoo! This one is like a party. I love it. I remember this being the rage on the NB last year, but I haven't heard much about it lately, so I thought the was LE for last year. But, it looks like they brought it back for the holidays. The base is pretty opaque, so it only took 2 coats. However, it's not super-dense to the point where the glitters and flakies would sink to the bottom. I had no issues with the formula on this one. It covered nicely and there was no drag that you can sometimes get with glitter. Also, this one had none of the removal issues that you oftentimes get with a glitter. A swipe of acetone and it was completely gone.

Looks Like Rain, Dear - Dense, pale golden glitter with larger rainbow, holo glitter in a golden shimmer base. Aside from the color, and the fact that 212-Sephora has golden flakies, the glitter in this one is very similar to the polish above. I like golds in theory, but normally, they just don't work with me. So my expectations on this one were pretty low. I mainly picked this one up because I had seen very few swatches of it online, and as it was technically free, I figured I take one for the team and get it to swatch. So imagine my surprise when I put it on and I actually liked it. It's very pretty and, though I haven't done one in months, I think this would look amazing as a base for a konad design. Pic is 2 coats. Formula was okay, though I found it to be a weird runny/thick consistency. However, it wasn't too difficult to work with. EDIT: All Lacquered Up just posted this polish today as well, and as her picture is much closer than mine, I figured I'd link to her post. In her swatch you can see tiny hexagonal silver glitter, that my little point-and-shoot just couldn't pick up. It makes the polish even prettier, IMO.

The brush on these was very nice. While it's not OPI's wide brush, it applied with no issues and the wand is very long. Although, and this is purely cosmetic... while I like brush, and the bottle, it's nice and weighty and it feels substantial in your hand, I hate (HATE) the cap. It feels cheap and... um... it looks like a "personal massager". :O There. I said it. :P

All in all, I'm pretty impressed with Sephora by OPI polishes. I still don't like the price point (or the look of the cap), but that doesn't stop me from already forming a small wishlist.

Nubar Holiday Jewel Basket

Nubar is a brand that I have never had the chance to try. I've thought about placing an order here and there and never got around to it. So, when I got the opportunity to try their new Holiday 2010 collection, Holiday Jewel Basket, I was more than a little excited.

Per Nubar's website and PR materials, Holiday Jewel Basket is their most discounted collection. The cost is $49.95. It contains nine total bottles, which breaks down to 1 creme, 4 glitters, 2 glitter/flake topcoats, and 2 treatments. That's $5.55 a bottle. The set also comes with an adorable wire and bead hinged basket, which would be perfect for holding cotton pads or q-tips. Unfortunately, mine was swiped by my 4-year daughter as a bed for her stuffed kitten, and I can't seem to find it, so I don't have a picture of it. BTW, it makes a great bed for a Beanie Baby. ;)

Normally when I post a collection, I post the colors in alphabetical order, as that's how I label the pictures. However, as this one has several distinct groupings, I'm going to break it up by finish.


















Competition Red - Pin-up red creme. The lone creme in the collection, this one is a classic red creme, but it's also got a touch of brown in the base. As it's pretty basic, there's not much to say. Formula was perfect. Pic is 2 coats.

Gold Glitter - Dense, fine, bright yellow-gold glitter in a clear base. I love the gold in this one. As I've been using the term "old gold" lately as a descriptor for several golden polishes, I almost wanted to use the term "new gold" for this one. The gold is very bright and clear. It doesn't work with my skin, however. Hence the redness around my nails. The application on this one was great. Because the glitter is so dense in the base, it only took 3 coats to reach opacity, and it was actually more like 2 coats and then a thin, third coat to cover a few bald spots.

Grass Green Glitter - Slightly-chunky green and gold glitter in a clear base. The application on this one was not as smooth as Gold Glitter. It took 4 coats to reach opacity, and on the last coat, I had to "place" the glitter in places. It was also a bit rougher in texture than Gold Glitter, and the 2 glitters to follow, but I evened it out pretty quickly with a coat of Nubar Diamont. All that said, I love this color. I know Emerald Sparkle is the holiday green glitter, but I have to say, if you want a brighter green for your holiday manicure, definitely check out Grass Green Glitter. Also, I absolutely love the pops of gold in this glitter. It makes me think of a field of grass scattered with dandelions.

Red Ruby Glitz - Fine red glitter in a red jelly base. This one just screams HOLIDAY to me. This is 3 coats, though in terms of opacity, I could have been okay with 2. However, the glitter in this one is very fine, so it "floats" in the jelly base, which means it adds dimension with each coat. Of all the 4 glitters in this collection, this one had the best application. If practically flowed on the nail.

Silver Glitter - Bright silver glitter in a clear base. This is the silver equivalent to Gold Glitter. It's very bright and has a ton of shine. Normally with silver glitter, I find it rather boring and flat, unless of course, it contains holo glitter. However, this was not the case with this polish. I was parrakeeting my nails like crazy. The formula and application were identical to Gold Glitter. Pic is 2+ coats (meaning 2 with a thin third coat in places to cover thin spots).

2010 - Thick clear base with red-based multi-chrome, rainbow flakes. I wanted to show you this one, and Pixie Dust (below) on naked nails, as well as on a dark base (but these are definitely meant for layering). This one, I had trouble coming up with a descriptor. I don't own many flakes, so I hope I did it justice. Basically, the flakes in this one change from red to orange to golden with a bit of green thrown in (much like the flakes in Barielle Elle's Spell). They almost look like flames. From what I gather, 2010 is a dupe to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (which I have yet to see in person, much less own). I liked before, and then I put it over the black base and... wow. It was beautiful. This is 2 coats on both the naked nails and the black nail.

Pixie Dust - Very fine, iridescent silver, blue, green, and purple shimmer suspended in a thick clear base. This is one of those polishes that you have to see in person to fully appreciate. There's something almost ethereal about it. In the bottle, it looks like swirls of fine snow and it's practically on mesmerizing. It's equally beautiful on the nail, and I think it would look amazing over any of colors in the shimmer particles (silver, blue, green, and purple). Pic is 2 coats on all nails.

This set also contained Diamont, a thick top coat, and Nubar's Foundation Nail Base Coat. In this review, I used Diamont over Grass Green Glitter and Silver Glitter. I have yet to use the Base Coat, as I like to give treatments a more thorough review. I plan on using the Base Coat over the next few days, along with Diamont, and I will report back in a separate post.

All in all, I must say I'm impressed with this gift set/collection, as well as with NubarNubar, but nonetheless, I love it. I've already created a small wishlist of Nubars I want to try in the future. :)

Nubar's Holiday Jewel Basket is available at their website, bynubar.com.

These were sent to me for review

New Barielle Ulta Line

I recently had the opportunity to review Barielle's new Ulta line.  This line, currently comprised of 16 core colors and 2 seasonal collections, is available at Ulta brick and mortar stores, as well as at Ulta.com.  This post is quite long (but you can ignore my jabbering on and just look at the pictures.  LOL :P), as I'm putting all 28 colors and reviews in one post.  Also, as, save for the Holiday collection, I swatched the entire thing in one fell swoop, so my cuticles are looking very ragged (sorry, I tried to keep them in check).  Hopefully, that won't detract too much from the pics, as there are some really beautiful colors in the mix.  Additionally, I wanted to mention on the front-end that formula on almost all of these was great, and a big improvement from Barielle's sometimes way-too-thick formula.  Many of them, the cremes and the jellies especially, practically flowed on the nail, though I very little difficulty with any of the formulations.

First up, I have one of the 2 seasonal collections in this collection, Barielle's fall offering, Style in Argyle.    

Angora Aura - Warm golden mustard.  I think of all the colors in this fall collection, this is the one that appealed to me the most, and I think that's mainly because of it's weirdness.  You don't normally see colors like this, outside of a few here and there.  While it's nowhere near the same color, it's in the same vein as RBL No More War.  It's weird, dirty, and definitely different.  I think this one would look beautiful this fall with a purple sweater.  2 coats.

Cashmere or Loose Me - Medium pink-based brown with pink and gold microshimmer.  The lone shimmer in this collection.  It reminds me of Jessica Bittersweet, though the colors are definitely different enough to justify owning both.  The name is a little odd, I think it should be Cashmere or Lose Me, but that's neither nor there.   2 coats.

Cowl of the Wild - Dirty, olive-based brown.  This, like Angora Aura, is another dirty-weird color.  This one would look great with golden shades or even red.  2 coats.

Tight Knit - Nutmeg brown.  This one has a fair amount of pink in the bottle, though if doesn't really translate to the nail.  2 coats.

Unraveled Rust - Warm chocolate brown.  Looks like melted milk chocolate.    Don't let the name fool you, this one is not "rust", but once I realized that the name on this one was a play on Unbridled Lust, I thought it was really cool.  LOL.  Formula was very smooth.  2 coats.

Wool You Marry Me - Burgundy-based brown.  This one is a little different that the other colors in the collection, in that it was slightly cooler.  This one would be beautiful paired with navy for fall.  2 coats.

I know this collection as gotten a bit of a bad rap, as it's mainly just a jumble of browns, but I really like it.  There is a brown in here for everyone and a weird, dirty mustard color for those of you that like to be outside of the status quo.  This collection is currently available at Ulta stores, and at Ulta.com. 

Next, is the second seasonal collection, Holiday Hustle...

Coalest Day of the Year - Charcoal grey metallic shimmer.  In terms of metallic-y-ness, this one is actually on the more subtle side.  The color itself reminds me somewhat of Orly Iron Butterfly with a TC, though Coalest Day of the Year is definitely shinier.  This is a very chic color and would look great on short, squared nails.  2 coats.

Elle's Spell - Deep red jelly with gold/green/orange holo flakies.  This one went on very sheer, but was buildable.  Pic is 3 coats, and you will need that many to reach opacity, but to also give depth to the flakies, which incidentally, I found to be more uniform that other flakies I've tried (i.e. OPI Merry Midnight... I don't have any Nfu-Oh flakies to compare).  This is a beautiful color for the holidays.

Gelt Me to the Party - Old gold frosty metallic.  In the bottle, this one has subtle ribbons of light gold shimmer, which don't exactly translate to the nail.  I'm pretty sure those shimmer ribbons are what add to the frost effect.  Unlike the other 2 frosts in this collection (see below), this one had the least issues with brushstrokes, though they were still there, so you will still need to watch your strokes.  As for the name, I'm pretty sure this is either supposed to be "Get Me to the Party" or "Gilt Me to the Party".  2 coats.

Snow Day - Silver frosty metallic.  And when I say "frosty", I mean FROSTY.  This is probably my least favorite from all the Barielles I reviewed in this post.  In the bottle, it's beautiful... a pale, icy blue-silver metallic with silver and blue shimmer ribbons.  Sadly, it just doesn't translate.  I'm not saying to count it out, as the color is pretty, but you will have to use a sticky base coat, and go slow between coats minding your brushstrokes in order to make this one work, IMO.  2 coats.

Wrap Me in Ribbon - Mauve pink frosty metallic.  Compared to Snow Day, this one is more like Gelt Me to the Party.  The brushstrokes are manageable, and it has a faint golden pink shimmer to set it apart.  It's nice to see a paler pink included in a holiday collection.  3 coats.

Jess' Champagne Toast - Lavender-grey foil with pink microglitter.  I honestly think this one is my favorite of the Holiday polishes.  That's not to say it doesn't have it's down points... the base is a tad too thick to let all the microglitter shine through (though to be fair a good amount of it does peek through).  However, when compared to another similar polish, CC Ms. Hautie, this one actually works.  Yes, it is more amazing in the bottle than it is on the nail, but I still fell in love with it.  I wore this as a mani and I kept parakeeting my nails all day long.  You will need several coats of TC as this one has a tendency to eat it up (I think I ended up with 3 coats of TC after all was said and done).  3 coats.

This collection had me torn.  I love Jess' Champagne Toast and Elle's Spell, though I thought there was maybe one (or two) too many frosts.  I just checked and this collection is currently not available at Ulta.com, though I expect it will pop up within the next few weeks.  I've you've spotted it at your local Ulta B&M store let me know and I will update this post.  I just don't have an Ulta in my area.  

And lastly, I have the 16 core colors (shades the Barielle brought over from the existing collection)...

Belly Dance - Greige base with pink, blue, and silver microshimmer.  The shimmer is what keeps this one from being your run-of-the-mill greige polish, though it is more pronounced in the bottle than on the nail.  2 coats.

Berry Blue - Inky blue jelly.  Le Sigh.  We all know that Megan loves blue, and this color is no exception.  It actually looks like blueberry jam.  I love everything about this color... the finish, the tone, the application.  Well, it does give you smurf fingers, so I don't like that, but aside from the inherent smurfyness, it's a gorgeous shade, probably my favorite of the core Ulta colors.  2 coats (with a thinner 3rd coat on a couple nails to even it out)

Coco Bar - Deep, rich cocoa brown.  This one is deeper in tone, and in richness than Unraveled Rust.  It literally looks like cocoa powder.  I love this color.  2 coats.

Decadence - Teal green shimmer.  This color is amazing.  It's along the same vein (in tone, not in finish) as CC Untamed Luxury.  2 coats.

Ecstasy - Bright, clear red jelly.  I would call this a pin-up red.  It's clear and bright and true, meaning it doesn't clean orange or blue.  I love a jelly red that doesn't leave me with VNLs and this one fits the bill.  2 coats.

Euphoric - Orange-based, salmon/cinnamon brown-hybrid creme.  How difficult could I make this description?  LOL.  It's too orange to be a salmon and too light to be classified as a cinnamon brown.  I would classify this a "mom" color.  It's pretty, but doesn't really work with my skintone.  2 coats.

Expressive - Light lavender-pink creme.  Seems like a cross between OPI Lucky, Lucky Lavender and Panda-Monium Pink.  2 coats.

Flirtini - Bright magenta jelly.  Another jelly that doesn't leave you with VNLs.  2 coats.

Grape Escape - Medium-toned purple creme.  I know we've had a few purple cremes pop up in the last year or so, RBL Mismas, ChG Grape Pop, and OPI Funky Dunkey.  However, this one seems more like RBL Purple Haze.  Granted, it doesn't have the smokiness of Purple Haze, but the base tone is more similar.  If you love purples, you will love this one.  I think it would look amazing with yellow.  2 coats.

Lust - Deep red jelly.  This one is Ecstasy's older sister.  Definitely darker and sexier, but still bright and clear.    This one leans a little blue.  It looks much darker in the bottle.  2 coats.

Misbehaving Mistress - Grey-brown shimmer with silver ribbons.  I found this color to be a bit odd.  I don't think it worked with my skintone.  Also, the silver ribbons made it a tad frosty on the nail.  2 coats.

Out-grey-geous - Light grey metallic shimmer with golden shimmer particles.  This one reminded me of a grey version of CC Snakeskin.  The color is pretty, but I found the formula to be a little hard to work with (it's thin) and because of that, it has a tendency to be brushstrokey if you don't let it dry between coats.  Pic is 3 coats.

Pink Sherbert - Pale shell pink shimmer.  I like this one because it's a pale polish that is opaque in 2 coats.  You don't have to baby it and you don't have to apply it over white or apply a 1000 coats in order for it took look great.  This is a great work-safe color.

Sailors Delight - Light, warm, creamy pink.  Like ChG Sugar High and OPI ElePhantasic Pink's baby sister.  This one seems like it would have the ability to compliment every skintone.  Also, like Pink Sherbert, the formula was thick enough to be perfectly opaque at 2 coats.  I can't say how much I love that in a light polish.  Plus, I adore the name... "pink sky at night... sailor's delight".

Slate of Affairs - Grey-blue shimmer with purple/blue flash.  Maybe it's the purple/blue flash in this, but a part of me wants to call this a deep periwinkle shimmer.  It definitely doesn't seem like a slate blue, IMO.  But at any rate, it's a gorgeous color.  I can't wait to wear this one as a full mani.  2 coats.

U-Concrete-Me - Medium grey creme.  This one is pretty straight-forward.  It's a grey creme.  Not too much to say about it, though the formula was nice.  Also, I think it would look gorgeous with icy and pale blues.  2 coats.

Whew.  If you stuck around that long... Thanks!  :)  This is a great line.  I kind of wish that Date Night and Swizzle Stick had been included, but I think they hit all the main points with this collection of polishes.  Also, I know the majority of us don't have a problem with ordering polishes off the internet, but if you do, I think this is perfect for you.  It makes Barielle much more accessible (provided you aren't like me and don't live in the land Ulta forgot) and gives you to see the polishes up close and personal.  Of course, if you do want to order them online, save for the Holiday line, which I would expect to see soon, all the polishes are available at Ulta.com (though they don't have Barielle in their Brand drop-down, so you will need to search).  Also, they are B2G1F through the month of October.  Retail price at Ulta is $6.

These were sent to me for review

Color Club Covered In Diamonds over Black

Yesterday, I posted my review of Color Club's Untamed Luxury collection for fall 2010.  In my post, I showed you Covered in Diamonds over my natural nails.  It's pretty, but IMO, to fully appreciate this polish you have to see it over black.

Doesn't it look like stained glass?

This is 2 thick coats of Covered in Diamonds over one coat of WNW Black Creme (I don't own a Color Club solid black polish).  I also applied a top coat to help even out the polish.  Up front, I want to mention that this is not a practical application.  I did it thickly so you all could see the beauty of Covered in Diamonds over a dark base.  That said, you can definitely acheive this look if you have a bit of patience.  If I wanted to apply this to actually wear it as a full mani, I would allow the black to dry completely and then thinly apply 2 coats of Covered in Diamonds, allowing each coat to dry in between (you could maybe even do a third if you did it thinly allowing for drying time).  I would then apply one coat of TC once both coats of the Covered in Diamonds has dried.  Because of the thickness of this polish and the chunkiness of the flakies, it's important that you let everything dry in-between or you'd be left with a gooey mess.  You'll also want to be a bit more careful than I was in making sure that you don't have any of the flakies hanging over your free edge or on your cuticle. 

So this look may take a bit more time, but the end result will make it all worth it.  It's totally unique.

Covered in Diamonds was sent to me for review.

Color Club Untamed Luxury Part 1 (Diamond)

Okay, normally, I don't like to split up collections, but Untamed Luxury is so large, at 14 polishes, that I am breaking it up based upon Color Club's own division in the collection... the Diamond polishes and then the Indulgence polishes (which will be up soon).

I was really excited about this portion of the collection because Color Club does amazing glitters, and the glitters and glitter-variants in this collection (mostly) did not disappoint.

De-Luxe-Cious - Blue-grey foil with holo glitter.  Reminded me of a more-pigmented and foil-y version of the Color Club Japanese glitters from last year.  I think this is a very pretty, definitely unique, though you will have to use probably 2 coats of TC in order to even it out.  The formula was a little thick.  Pic is 3 coats, and due to the thickness of the formula, I had drag on my 2nd and 3rd coat.  To combat the drag, you would just need to wait a bit longer in between coats.

Ms. Hautie - Gunmetal grey satin finish polish with rainbow holo glitter and copper micro-glitter.  In the bottle, the copper glitter gives it a slight duochrome effect, and this one was probably my favorite of the collection.  In the bottle.  On the nail, it was a bit disappointing, though I am reserving final judgement until after I put a TC on it, wear it as a full mani, and see it in sunlight.  For me, with the copper glitter, this one had the same concept as Barielle Falling Star*  (which is a slate blue with larger copper glitter dispersed throughout), though they are not at all similar in finish or color.  This one was a bit better in formulation than De-Luxe-Cious, but there was still the risk of drag.  Pic is 2 coats.

Red Velvet - Jelly black base with red glitter. If Ms. Hautie was my favorite in the bottle, then Red Velvet would be my favorite on the nail.  If you like the concept of China Glaze Lubu Heels or OPI Midnight in Moscow, but were disappointed in the end result, then you will LOVE Red Velvet.  For me, I found the glitter in Lubu Heels to be too dark to stand out and Midnight in Moscow was too muddy.  Red Velvet is neither of those things.  Because of the jelly base, the red glitter was able to be suspended in the base and become more pronounced with following coats (though you won't need many).  Also, unlike OPI Midnight in Moscow, this one does not look brown from a distance.  It is definitely a black with red glitter.  It's crazy awesome and I can't wait to wear it as a full mani.  You will need a coat of TC, probably 2 coats to even out the finish, but that's pretty commonplace for glitters.  Pic is 2 coats and the formula is fantastic!

Untamed Luxury - Turquoise blue jelly base with blue and green glitter.  Now, I've never been there, but something tells me, if you could take the Caribbean Sea and turn it into a glittery nail polish, it would be this polish.  In tone, it's very similar to Zoya Charla and her dopplegangers (okay so OPI Catch Me in Your Net and Orly Halley's Comet aren't evil, but they are triplets with Charla and I just wanted to use the word doppleganger.  LOL), but it's not similar in finish.  Charla, et al, are glass-flecked foils, whereas Untamed Luxury is a straight up glitter polish.  They aren't dupes at all and if you love blue-greens and green-blues, you need this one.  The finish on this one reminds me of the Color Club Holiday glitters from last year.  Formula was great, but as it's a glitter, it has the tendency to do the free-edge-glitter-drag (as I call it), but if you go slow and take a little time between coats, you'll be fine.  Pic is 3 coats.

Resort to Red - Burgundy red pearl finish with red and pink micro-shimmer.  What can I say?  It's pretty, but it's also pretty common.  The pink and red mico-shimmer make it a bit unique, but you don't notice the shimmer unless you really study this polish.  That said, I think this would be a great polish for the holidays. Because of the pearly finish, this one did have a tendency to show brushstrokes, so you'll have to watch your strokes.  Formula was fine, though, and pic is 2 coats.

Snakeskin - Grey-based olive satiny foil with a golden shimmer.  In the bottle, this one looks like the olive/golden version of Ms. Hautie.  Yet, while Ms. Hautie disappointed on the nail, Snakeskin did not.  It has a similar finish to Ms. Hautie, in that it dries to a satiny finish (though not nearly as matte as Ms. Hautie).  In the bottle, there was a grey/olive duochrome thing going on that didn't quite translate to the nail.  It's a gorgeous color and if you love muted olive shimmers (the one coming to mind is OPI At Your Quebec and Call, though I don't have it to compare), you are going to love this one.  Like Resort to Red, it was apt to show brushstrokes, but given the foil finish, the stroke marks actually looked good with Snakeskin.  Formula was great.  Pic is 2 coats.

Covered in Diamonds - Clear top coat with large-sized, rainbow holo flakies.  In other swatches of this top coat and in Color Club's own PR pics, I wasn't really drawn to this polish.  For me, it looked a little odd, like someone had just crumpled up cellophane on their nails.  However, in person, this is a totally different story.  I can see how this color would transform any color into a completely different polish (tomorrow, I will have a pic of this over black.  AMAZING).   If you like flakies, and layering top coats, then you definitely have to check out Covered in Diamonds.  Pic is 2 coats, and, due to the slight thickness of the formula and the big flakies, I would wait a few minutes between coats so you don't get free-edge drag. 

All in all, I love this portion of the Untamed Luxury collection.  Resort to Red was a bit ho-hum and Ms. Hautie was a bit of a miss on the nail, but I still feel Color Club did an awesome job.  Red Velvet, Untamed Luxury, and Snakeskin are worth the price of admission alone.  This collection is available at both TD and VNS and color club is usually in the under-$3-range.

These were sent to me for review

EDITED: To change this from Wishing on a Star (which I think is a black with silver glitter by Misa)