Dazzle Dry Blogger's Mystery Collection

As promised I would like to show you the Dazzle Dry Blogger's Mystery Collection. Five of the shades are collaborations with bloggers/nail artists including Vanessa of Nail Stories, Rina of Simply Rins, Robin Moses, Jen of The Nail Polish Project and myself. One shade designed by Dazzle Dry...

Dazzle Dry nail lacquers are intended to be worn with the Dazzle Dry nail system which includes a nail prep, base and top coat. All these swatches were done with this system. The lacquers themselves dry quickly with a matte finish. The top coat gives them their shine plus dries rock hard in five minutes. For more on the system please visit the Dazzle Dry website or this post.

Arctic Sunset by yours truly
I know I just showed you these swatches in my last post, but I'm including them here again to have the collection swatches all together. Plus my OCD nature forces me to keep the polishes appearing here in numerical order. ;)

Arctic sunset is a white cream with a gold glass fleck shimmer. The shimmer is quite camera shy. It gives a nice warmth to the white in bright light. It was inspired by the sun reflecting off of fresh fallen snow. See my last post for more details. I used three thin coats for these swatches. The formula is a bit thick, but does provide nice, full coverage...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dazzle Dry Collection: Blogger's Mystery Color Name/Number: Arctic Sunset, 471 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Blue Fantasy by Vanessa of Nail Stories
A gorgeous electric blue with coppery glass flecks. This is really so beautiful. It has a nice smooth formula that is very easy to apply. Three coats provided great coverage...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dazzle Dry Collection: Blogger's Mystery Color Name/Number: Blue Fantasy, 472 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Dragonfly by Dazzle Dry
A darkened base with green and gold glass flecks. Be still my heart! This is right up my alley, I just love such dark green shades and this one has the complexity to keep me fascinated. Two coats for full coverage. The formula is very easy to work with and apply...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dazzle Dry Collection: Blogger's Mystery Color Name/Number: Dragonfly, 473 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Feisty by Rina of Simply Rins
A vampy berry wine with a purple shimmer. This has such wonderful depth to it. The perfect fall shade. It provided great coverage at three coats and has a nice smooth formula that is easy to apply...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dazzle Dry Collection: Blogger's Mystery Color Name/Number: Feisty, 474 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Moxie by Robin Moses
Comprised of eggplant purple to gold duochrome glass flecks. It is very sparkly and beautiful. It has a very saturated formula that is nearly a one coater. A bit thick and you can probably get away with just one coat, but I used two thinner coats here...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dazzle Dry Collection: Blogger's Mystery Color Name/Number: Moxie, 475 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Tiger Lily by Jen of The Nail Polish Project
A cranberry pink with a gold fleck shimmer. It as a bit more fuschia to it than the swatches show, but my camera picks up more of the red. I have actually been wearing this for the last 24 hours and loving it. It has a wonderful easy to apply formula. Two coats provides great coverage as seen here...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dazzle Dry Collection: Blogger's Mystery Color Name/Number: Tiger Lily, 476 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Find out more about Dazzle Dry:
Website | Facebook | Instagram

I love how unique and beautiful everyone's creations are!
What do you think of this collection?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Ruby Wing Crowd Surf...

Anyone in Seattle will tell you that you have to enjoy the sunshine while it lasts because around here summer is short. I'm savoring every bit of sunshine that I can and what better way to enjoy it than with a Solar Active shade from Ruby Wing. Even if you are the type of person who doesn't like going outside, these will make you want to go out just to watch it change...

Indoors, Ruby Wing Crowd Surf is a bright neon fuchsia purple. The formula is nice and smooth, easy to apply. Three coats as seen in these swatches will provide full coverage. It dries to a satin finish which is beautiful, but I did use a top coat for these swatches...

A quick shot of what it looks like before the top coat. Satin-y and soft...

Outdoors, Crowd Surf quickly changes to a deep berry burgundy shade. In real life, the change is a bit more dramatic than it appears in these swatches as it changes from a purple to a more red and much darker shade...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Ruby Wing Collection: Festival Paint Collection, Summer 2013 Color Name/Number: Crowd Surf Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

It is a gorgeous shade indoor and out. I was also excited that unlike the shades of the Spring collection, this Summer shade is unscented!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Ruby Wing Poppy and Sunflower...

I got a chance to play with some fun Ruby Wing color changing polish over the sunny weekend and I'm excited to show you my swatches. Ruby Wing is a line of color changing polish from the same manufacturer that brings us Color Club. This is my first experience with the brand and I was hooked after reading the tag line, "if nothing ever changed there'd be no butterflies". How sweet is that?

Indoor Poppy is a bright raspberry pink cream/jelly (crelly). It is a new scented addition to the Ruby Wing line up. The formula is very nice and creamy, easy to apply. I used three coats, but should have left it at two. The third coat started getting thick and dragging. Also with three coats it took a long time to dry. Even with a fast drying top coat, I easily messed it up it after an hour. These swatches are indoors, three coats plus a top coat...

It dries darker than bottle color and with a slight satin finish, which is why I opted to use a top coat over it. As I mentioned it is also scented. Once dry, the scent is pretty strong and has a flowery perfume smell. I wore it for a full day and even though the scent got slightly weaker over time, but I could still easily smell it 24 hours after applying...

Outdoors in the sunshine, Poppy completely transforms from a pink raspberry shade to a dark burgundy wine jelly color. The transformation is incredible and very dramatic. I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw it change. For this, I'm willing to put up with the scent, although I do wish there was an unscented version...

These are kind of poor shots, but I was playing around with covering up portions of the nail while exposing the rest to indirect sunlight (through my car window). When I uncovered the nail, for a short period of time, both the indoor and outdoor version of the color were on the nail...

It also has transition stages, so if part of the nail is in the shade, it will produce a gradient. Although my swatches above show it fully exposed to the sun, it quickly starts shifting back to the "indoor" color when not in direct sunlight... Turn the hand palm side up and it shift to the "indoor" color, flip it back over and watch it darken again... Hold it partially turned toward the sun and get a nice gradient... Really a beautiful color no matter which way you turn it...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Ruby Wing Collection: main/core Color Name/Number: Poppy Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

The second Ruby Wing polish I got to try is Sunflower. It is a color changing base with small gold glitter in a variety of shapes. Similarly to Poppy, this is also scented. It smells a bit soapy to me and not quite as strong as Poppy. The glitter is pretty dense and can be layered to reach opacity. I used just one coat with a top coat over each of the colors.

Index finger is Sunflower alone so you can see how dense it is at one coat. Middle finger is over white, ring finger over dark blue, and pinkie over red...

The color changing effect is not very dramatic. The base of the glitter transitions from clear indoor to yellow under direct sunlight, making it appear as slightly darker gold. It was difficult to see the effect over the darker blue and red shades that I chose. I could see it best over white and alone and therefore I assume lighter colors would work best.

Swatch Details
	Brand: Ruby Wing Collection: main/core Color Name/Number: Sunflower Number of coats: 1 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Have you tried solar changing polishes before? What do you think of them?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Nicole by OPI CVS Exclusive

Today I would like to show you some recently released CVS Exclusive Nicole by OPI beauties. The moto here is to "think neutral, not boring!" and I would have to agree. I have been showing you manicures featuring these polishes over the last few weeks and I hope you'll agree that they have not been boring. There is a nice range of polishes with colors from light to dark and finishes including metallic, cream and jelly...

I Sea You and Raise You
A bright sea blue cream with a nice and creamy formula. The application was great. Two coats for full, even coverage. It was the star of my winter snowflake manicure that I loved so much. This color would work well year round as I can definitely see this bright blue popping back up during the summer. No top coat in these swatches...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: I Sea You and Raise You, NI 413 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Always a Silver Lining
A shimmery silver with a hint of blue tint. It has tiny gold shimmer particles speckled throughout which are hard to see in these photos, but are really lovely in real life. It is very sheer, but builds up to full coverage with three coats. Minimal streaks though a few are still visible. I showed you this one just yesterday as the base for another winter manicure...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Always a Silver Lining, NI 414 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Don't Overpink It
A soft pink jelly. It dries just slighly darker than bottle color. I'm not sure why I have lobster hands in these photos, but the polish color is accurate which is what really matters. The formula is very smooth, no pulling or bald spots although difficult to wrap the tips with this jelly. Three coats for the coverage seen here, not completely opaque, but close.

My boyfriend must be tired of my crazy manicures because I was wearing this on it's own all day and he commented on how nice it looks. It kind of caught me of guard so I had to probe further, you know the whole "are you saying all my other manicures are not nice?" reaction. He clarified that each color has it's own personality that I inherit by wearing it and this one makes me nice and sweet. Luckily he didn't add "unlike the rest of the time..." ;)

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Don't Overpink It, NI 415 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Feeling Grapeful
A medium violet purple. It starts out sheer, similar to a jelly, but does get to full coverage by two coats. It remains very shiny and has a nice smooth formula. Lovely shade, great formula and that's all I've got to say about it. I'll be wearing it again for sure. Swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Feeling Grapeful, NI 416 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

A Pinker Shade of Pale
A silver frost with a hint of pink. This has a nice full coverage formula in just two coats. Streaks are minimal, but definitely there and can be noticeable depending on application. This has a very pretty darker pink shimmer that is barely visible, but caught my attention. It works well for stamping and you can see a quick test at the bottom of the post...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: A Pinker Shade of Pale, NI 417 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Personally Speaking...
A rosy pink frost. This is just a bit darker than A Pinker Shade of Pale, but the formula and application are the same. Also can show some streaks, but with straight application it is not too bad. I like this one a lot, both on it's own and it happens to work very well for stamping as seen in this recent manicure...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Personally Speaking..., NI 418 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Marooned in Paradise
A burgundy cream with a hidden shimmer. The shimmer was a bit of a surprise since I didn't notice it in the bottle. It is best seen on first coat, but almost completely disappears by the second. A nice fall shade, exactly the kind I tend to reach for this time of year. It is opaque in two coats, but I used three to get full coverage. Formula is very nice and easy to work with...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Marooned in Paradise, NI 419 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

As I bit of a bonus, I did a quick stamping test using A Pinker Shade of Pale (left) and Personally Speaking... (right) over Marooned in Paradise. Both stamp very well and have just a slight difference in color...

I'd love to know what you think of these!
Have you picked any up at CVS?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **