B.Loves Plates/Color Alike Spring Break Stamping Polish Collection - Swatches & Review

Back in May you may have seen this post where I mentioned that I am on the hunt for some good creme polishes.  I have seen a couple of brands with some great looking stamping polishes but sadly they don't ship outside of the US.  But I did find two collections of creme stamping polishes from B.Loves Plates/Color Alike and they shipped to Australia.  Woohoo!  Today I have the Spring Break Stamping Polish collection which features six pastel shades that stamp beautifully over both light and dark shades.

B A Blue Sky is a baby blue creme stamping polish.

B A Ice Coffee is a nude beige creme stamping polish.

B A Lavender is a pastel purple creme stamping polish.

B A Lemonade is a pastel yellow creme stamping polish.

B A Mint is a mint creme stamping polish.

B A Sweetheart is a pastel pink creme stamping polish.

I am so impressed with these stamping polishes.  I mean how can you go wrong with pastel polishes that stamp over black.  You can bet that I will be getting some great use out of these.

The Spring Break Stamping Polish Collection is available from B.Loves Polish (and yes they ship them internationally!)

Powder Perfect The Bermuda Trio - Swatches & Review

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I am so excited for today's post for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I am using my new camera!  I was lucky enough to receive a new camera for Mother's Day/early birthday present and it's taken me a little while to get it all set up and work out how to edit but I have finally done it.  It's still going to take a little getting use to but yay!   And secondly, and most importantly, new Powder Perfect pretties!  It was a freezing cold and very foggy day when the Bermuda Trio arrived on my doorstep and I instantly fell in love.  This trio consists of three bright creme polishes so you can see why I would fall in love.  Let's take a look shall we?

Bermuda is a bright teal creme.  Gorgeous colour and a great formula.  This polish is actually really close to being a one coater.  My swatch shows two coats.

Florida is described as a coral that is balanced between a neon & a pastel.  Another pretty colour and great formula.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Puerto Rico is a vibrant purple creme.  This is hands down my favorite in this trio.  I've actually already worn it three times.  The formula on this one is quite thick and does need some slight thinning but the colour is to die for!  My swatch shows two coats but you could nearly get away with one coat.

I am loving this trio.  The colours are just so pretty and the formulas are so easy to use. 

The Bermuda Trio will be available from Powder Perfect's Australian website from June 15th at 7pm AEST and from the International website from June 15th at 7pm EST.

*EDIT: Powder Perfect are kindly offering my readers a 10% discount on both of the websites with the code TRACY.  This code is valid until the end of July 2016.

Pueen Chunky Transparent Stamper - Swatches & Review

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Transparent stampers are all the rage at the moment.  I actually own a couple, one has a long handle which does ok (I have trouble placing the images but that is a user issue not the stampers fault) and another large one with no holder (I struggle even more with that one).  I was very pleasantly surprised when a Pueen Chunky Transparent Stamper arrived at my doorstep for me to play with.

Image from Pueen

I am seriously in love with this stamper!  While it does need priming to begin with (which is really no big deal) it is so easy to use.  I have had minimal issues picking up and transferring images to my nails.  I say minimal because there was one plate that I did have issues with but I also tried my regular stamper and still had issues with it, so I think it is a fault with the plate.  

Image from Pueen

As you can see from the picture above, this stamper doesn't have the traditional long handle which makes placing images central on the nail so much easier.  Even I can do it and I am the type of girl who struggles to draw a straight line with a ruler. 

Seriously loving this stamper.  I still need some practice placing things centrally but I can see that this will be my new go to stamper for everything.  It is also great for those images that are a little shorter (or have little moon shape cut outs on them) when placing them on the nail.  This stamper really has opened up a whole new world for me.  I am so excited.

The Chunky Transparent Stamper is available from Pueen. 

Have you tried a transparent stamper before?  What do you think of them?

Powder Perfect Lighting Lady & Mattificent Top Coats - Swatches & Review

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Powder Perfect have recently released a number of new nail care item and polish collections, and there is more coming very, very soon!  Today I have their matte top coat Mattificent and the soon to be released Lightning Lady top coat.  Now before I get into my review of the actual top coats I should give you a "background" information on what I look for in a top coat.  Really there are three things for me - fast drying, doesn't smudge nail art and is glossy (unless it is a matte top coat then obviously I want it to be matte).

Lightning Lady Top Coat is described as a glossy and fast drying top coat that will smooth out glitter polishes and make your cremes supremely shiny.   It is a 5 free formulation that glides easily over colour polishes and helps to extend the wear time of your manicure.  As you may or may not know I change my nails daily so I really can't comment on wear time for any polishes.  
 

I have tried this top coat over a couple of manis.  Firstly I tried it over a stamped mani.  I waited longer than I usually do, used a very light hand and floated the top coat across the mani and unfortunately it smudged terribly.  I definitely don't recommend it for manis with nail art.  In terms of gloss factor, it does ok.  It's not as glossy as Seche Vite or Powder Perfect's Champagne Shine (I have a review of this here).  The dry time was ok.  I would say it was touch dry in two to three minutes.

I also tried Lightning Lady over a glitter polish (see in the second picture).  I used Powder Perfect's In My Dreams, which as you can see it's a particularly glitter heavy polish so isn't as textured as a glitter heavy polish would be.  I actually needed two coats of Lightning Lady to give the mani a completely smooth finish.

Mattificent Top Coat is described as a matte top coat.  Who doesn't love matte nails every now and again?  I quite like Mattificent.  It's easy to use and turns manis matte.  Now it does say that it doesn't smudge nail art.  I always use a glossy top coat before a matte top coat, mainly so that my mani dries quicker but I always fear that a matte top coat will smear.  That being said I haven't tried this top coat directly on any nail art.

Mattificent Top Coat is available now from Powder Perfect's Australian Site and from the International Site.

Lightning Lady Top Coat is available June 15th at 7pm AEST from Powder Perfect's Australian Site and from June 15th at 7pm EST from the International Site.

What do you look for in a top coat?

Emily de Molly April 2016 Releases - Swatches & Review

It seems like forever since I have done an Emily de Molly post (it was actually mid May since my last post - I looked lol).  The polishes I have to share with you today I have actually had sitting in my polish racks waiting for the "right" time (read as waiting for some sunshine) but sadly it just hasn't happened.  There are a few holos or polishes that really do need sunshine but Melbourne has lost the sun (thanks Winter!) so I do apologize for my pictures - I had no choice but to use my flash on my camera.  

Clip Art is a dark blue/teal jelly with neon yellow and aqua glitters and a gold shimmer.  I am actually surprised how my I like this one.  It's not something that would normally jump out at me but I quite like it on.  The formula is really easy to use and is opaque in two coats.

Picture taken in light box

Darker Days is a dark brown with red/purple undertones with iridescent flakes that shift from orange/gold/green/blue and copper shimmer.  This one does applies unevenly on the first coat however evens out on the second.  My swatch shows two coats.  I probably should have done a third coat as it is slightly see through at the tips in direct light.

Picture taken in light box

Flatline is A light taupe grey ultra holo, with strong purple undertones. Ultra holo it is!  I wish there was some sun around for this baby.  You can actually tell how holo it is from the light box picture.  Normally you can't see holos so well but look at those colours!  So in love.  The formula is amazing, although it is a little on the sheer side.  I used three coats for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box with flash

LE31 is described as a dark turquoise creme with multichrome flakies and the tiniest amount of glitter.  Super easy to use and opaque in two coats.  I believe this one has sold out on the Australian site but I am not too sure if it is available anywhere else.

Picture taken in light box

LE32 is a blue to clear thermal with an added red base and a strong orange shine, so it appears to be a burgundy to orange.  The colour of this one changes really well.  So much so I actually had a lot of trouble keeping it in is cold state.  You can kind of see the transition in the first picture.  The formula is great and is opaque in two coats.  I couldn't see this polish on the Australian site anymore and I am not sure if it is available anywhere else.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box with flash

Lyrical is a turquoise green holo.  Pretty colour and great formula.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box with flash

Reset Button is a bright red based purple holo.  Now you can see that on the nails it does look different to what's in the bottle.  It also doesn't look as holo on the nails.  I couldn't work out why but Hayley has noted on the site that this is due to a top coat.  No idea why the top coat changes it so much but either way it is still pretty.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box with flash

Savvy Trinket is a purple foil with gold / green / blue shifting shimmer.  This polish is absolutely gorgeous.  I couldn't stop looking at my nails.  It's so pretty at every angle.  The formula is great.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box

Picture taken in light box

Smiling Fortune is a neon pink jelly with very strong gold to green shimmer with copper, neon pink and light green glitters.  So pretty and sparkly.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Picture taken in light box

There are definitely some stunners in April's releases.  My absolutely favorites are Flatline and Savvy Trinkets.

As I mentioned earlier I don't think the LE polishes are available anymore, however the others are available through Emily de Molly Australian site.  They may also be available through the international site or one of the stockists.  It's definitely worth keeping your eyes out and grabbing some of these polishes.

CICI&SISI Spring 02 & Wedding Season 02 Acrylic Stamping Plates - Swatches & Review

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Every now and again there is something very new and exciting that pops up in the nail community.  One of the recent things that grabbed my attention are acrylic stamping plates.  That's right, plates that are made from acrylic not the usual metal plates that you see everywhere (absolutely nothing wrong with metal plates - I absolutely LOVE mine).  CICI&SISI have recently released nine acrylic plates - three Olympic themed (these are the most recent release), Wedding Season themed and Spring themed.  I have one of the Spring and a Wedding Season plate to share with you today.

Image from CICI&SISI

Image from CICI&SISI

I love these plates.  They stamp so beautifully every time.  I had no issues what so ever.  Initially I was quite scared because they look really messy when you scrap off the polishes but that stays behind and doesn't pick up on the stamper at all.  The plates are also really easy to clean as well.  I will definitely be adding some more of these plates to my collection.

These acrylic plates are all sold separately and are available from CICI&SISI.

Polish Envy Swatch Spam - Swatches & Review

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Today I have eight polishes to share with you from Polish Envy.  I have previously swatched some of Polish Envy's Duralacq range.  If you missed that post you can check it out here.  The polishes I have today are predominately metallic foil polishes, with the except of one polish which is a shimmer.

The consistency across these polishes is pretty similar.  They are all easy to work with, however I found these polishes quite sheer.  As you probably are aware, I don't like visible nail lines at all and also don't like having see through tips (in my opinion polishes aren't fully opaque if you can hold your nails up to a light and see through them).  These polishes are all see through at the tips with three coats (some swatches I have only used two coats) and with extra polish applied to the tips.

Blue No More is a bright blue metallic foil.  This is quite a pretty colour.  My swatch shows three coats.

Blue On My Mind is a blue metallic foil.  I used three coats for my swatch.

Crescent Moon is a gunmetal grey metallic.  This is one of the most "opaque" of the eight polishes I have swatched.  My swatch shows two coats (and still has slightly see through tips).

Foxxy is an orange metallic foil.  My swatch shows three coats.

Magic Mustard is a yellow gold metallic foil.  This one has visible brush strokes.  My swatch shows two coats.

Magnetica is a magenta metallic foil.  I used two coats for my swatch.

Popsicle is a coral metallic foil.  My swatch shows three coats.

Water My Melon is a coral pink shimmer.  My swatch shows three coats.

 These polishes are available from Polish Envy.