We Are Family! KelBel Cosmetics Ava and Amanda

I'm baacckkkk! May was just not my month for blogging. I had one post the whole month. ONE! That's so sad. As always, life gets in the way or there are just times when I just don't want to sit down and edit photos. It is probably my least favorite part of nail blogging. I'm considering just getting rid of the watermark all together to make it easier. People out there seem to just crop out watermarks anyway if they really want to steal photos.

But aside from that, life is good. I just spent the weekend at my annual family reunion in the New York Catskills. We've been going to the same resort for 29 years and I've been there every year of my life except for two years for my high school graduation and for my brother's. My mom went when she was pregnant with me, so I count that "in the womb" year, haha. Basically, I think of it as the greatest place on earth. I'd rather go to Sunny Hill (the resort where we hold the reunion) than Disney World! I love my family and we always have such a great time.

The reason for the story is that it inspired today's post. My older brother and his family moved to Atlanta, GA about two years ago. Luckily, they haven't missed a Sunny Hill reunion since! In April is my niece Amanda's birthday and this year (she just turned 5) as part of her present, I created two nail polish colors and named them after Amanda and her sister, Ava. I love my nieces and miss them a lot now that they live so far away. I was able to see them this weekend and I'm always thankful for that.

Here are the bottle shots of the colors I created. I didn't swatch them since they were gifts. I have a feeling I'll recreate the colors though so I can wear them myself.

Since Amanda is only 5 years old, I went with an age-appropriate color, light pink. Once she gets older she can wear any crazy color she wants, like her Aunt. But for now, I thought it was best to stick to a classic. Plus, Amanda is a girly girl that loves anything princess related. It's the perfect color for her namesake.

My niece Ava is the big sister. I wanted something a little older, yet still fun. The color is a blurple and in real life has a subtle duo-chrome effect. I think it also matches Ava's personality. 

I had a lot of fun creating these colors as gifts for my nieces! I can't wait until I see them next. 

Have you created any custom colors for people you know as gifts? Does your family have an annual reunion? 

Royal (Nail) Mail!

First of all, Happy Anniversary Will & Kate! Mostly I'm only aware of this fact because last year the Royal Wedding was the day before my very own wedding. But that's a post for another day.

Two weeks ago I received probably my favorite piece of nail mail, my a england order from the Tristam sale. With no tracking number, I could only wonder (and ask fellow nail polish lovers) when my order would arrive. Finally it showed up, but not without my hubby taunting me first joking that he was going to send it back.

I was so excited I even took a picture of the stamp

I'm just a little obsessed with London and England in general. I went on a Study Abroad short-term program to London during the summer between my junior and senior years of college. It was only two weeks that we actually spent in London, but I fell in love with the city. I felt so comfortable there and I just loved everything about it. My love of London was what first attracted me to a england nail polish.

But oh my goodness, the polish! Adina is a nail polish genius! I've seen gorgeous swatches on various blogs and I know everyone raves about them, but it's something entirely different to hold these beauties in your hands.  Even the hubby was impressed and put some polish on his thumbnail to test one out. Plus, I love that Adina has a story and inspiration behind each collection. She has such a strong vision and that's something I admire.

Since Saint George and Dragon were sold out, along with some others I wanted, I picked up Ascalon, Order of the Garter and Avalon. They are gorgeous in the bottle and I'm very happy with my purchase. Plus,  I love blue and purple, so all of these colors are right up my alley.

I can't wait until I've tried all three of these out. Now that I've made my first purchase from a england, I can't wait to be able to purchase more of Adina's creations. Saint George and Dragon are definitely next up from a england, as long as they stay in stock. 

Did you participate in the Tristam sale? Which colors did you purchase? Let me know in the comments section!

Wet n Wild: Speak When Spoken To

Wet n Wild recently released a collection of duo-chrome glitters called Be Jeweled as part of their Coloricon line. They're similar to the China Glaze Prismatic collection, from what I've been seeing and reading, but at $2.99 a bottle, way more affordable. They are Limited Edition though, so if you really like them, better pick them up when you see them!

I wanted to do some swatches of Speak When Spoken To since it's part of my Spring Fling giveaway! This polish has so much going on. It's duo-chrome AND glitter! To show you all the full effect, I layered Speak When  Spoken To over 2 coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather.

Look at that gorgeousness! Speak When Spoken To shifts from blue to a pink purple. I like the intensity that the polish gets with black under it. I used two coats of SWST. I could have just used one, but I like doing 2 coats of glitter to even it out. I usually really dislike the Coloricon polish brushes, and while this one wasn't my favorite, I didn't have a problem with it. It's actually a brush that works well with this type of glitter polish.

I also used two coats of Seche Vite top coat to get the mani nice and smooth. The only downside of Seche is that it definitely caused shrinkage within 24 hours. I did order some Cult Nails Wicked Fast, so hopefully that won't be a problem anymore once that arrives!

So there you have it! Do you own any of the Be Jeweled collection? Which are your favorite? Do you also own any of the China Glaze Prismatic collection? If you do, which do you prefer?

Someone will be the lucky winner of this polish, so be sure to enter my giveaway!

Purple People Eater

Today I have a comparison post for you lovely readers! I don't really have any polishes that are dead-on dupes of each other, but I have some that are similar. Last night I put some on a color wheel and here are some of the results. If you couldn't tell from the title of this post, I went with a purple theme!

First, I have another picture of my Party on my Yacht and Galactus manicure, this time with my iPod, which is also purple. I've realized I own A LOT of purple stuff. My iPod and wallet are both purple, along with a hoodie (a la Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship) and a bunch of tops. I also picked out purple post-its this week at work. So yeah, I love purple and apparently it shows. Also, anyone remember the movie Purple People Eater? I loved that movie!

Credit

The first comparison is between two purples, Pretty & Polished Galactus and Sinful Colors Fiji, which I wore a while back. As I was writing this post and editing photos, my husband made me Google Galactus. Apparently, Galactus is a Marvel character who goes around the universe destroying planets after Silver Surfer finds the planets for him. Needless to say, he wears purple. So that's my fun tidbit for the day!

On the left is Galactus and on the right is Fiji, each is three coats on the nail wheel. Clearly they are not dupes of each other. They fall in the same general purple family, but Galactus has the holographic shimmer, while frenzy does not. 

Out of the two, Galactus is my favorite. It is a lot more opaque in fewer layers and it has the holo shimmer.

Next are two polishes that are black bases with purple glitter. Wet n Wild Night Prowl vs. Revlon Scandalous (formerly Facets of Fuchsia). Again, clearly not dupes, but they fall in the same family.

On the left is Revlon Scandalous and on the right is Wet n Wild Night Prowl, 3 coats of each. Scandalous is a bit harder to work with than Night Prowl, but has the better payoff. If you want a black polish with purple glitter, Scandalous is the way to go.

I still have yet to use Revlon Scandalous, but I think when I do I'll layer it over a black creme to make it nice and opaque. Night Prowl is pretty good as a stand-alone polish. 

So there you have it, some purple comparisons! 

Which are your favorites out of these? What's the one color that dominates your nail polish collection and your wardrobe? Does anyone else remember the Purple People Eater movie? Let me know in the comments section! 

Pretty & Polished: Galactus and Party on my Yacht

Today I have swatches of the first two polishes from Pretty & Polished! I showed you my haul from Chels' Etsy shop a little while ago. She makes some great creations, so be sure to check out her Etsy shop (linked above).

I wanted a simple, quick mani since things have been busy around here. With that in mind, I figured the perfect combination would be Galactus and Party on my Yacht. No stamping or nail art required.

Mini bottle shots

I decided to do a mani of Galactus, which is a purple polish with very subtle holo shimmer. I love purples and I can safely say this will be added to my list of favorite purples. I used two coats and a top coat of Seche Vite to give it a glossy finish. The application was great, easy to work with and opaque. I would have liked a bit more holo in this one, but maybe it was just my bottle or I didn't shake it enough. 

Then I put three coats of Party on my Yacht on my ring finger as an accent nail. Party on my Yacht is a white creme polish packed with hex and bar glitter in pink, purple, gold, green and blue. It's probably one of my favorites from Pretty & Polished that I own. It actually reminds me a little of Mardi Gras in a bottle. I had a little trouble with the application on the first ring finger, but then I got better with the second nail. I think the trick is waiting a little for the coats to set. 

The last two photos show the holo a little bit more. It was hard to capture since I didn't have sunlight to work with, but it's there. I love this mani (and pardon my short nails) and I'm definitely looking forward to trying out more of Chels' creations. And stay tuned because I should have a savings code for you in upcoming posts!

What do you think of this mani? Do you own any creations from Pretty & Polished? Do you plan on picking some up? 


*The products in this post were provided to me at a discount for consideration. Please see my disclosure page for more details. 

My Namesake: Zoya Kelly

Hello readers! Pardon my absence from blogging the last few days. There has been a lot going on, some good, some bad. And on top of all of that, my body decided to get a cold that started late Friday night and I've spent most of today either watching Gossip Girl on Netflix or sleeping. Blah. Despite that, now I'm back with a post!

Last week, my Zoya promo package finally arrived! I had been waiting not so patiently for it to arrive, including checking the FedEx tracking whenever I could. But now both of my first ever Zoya polishes are in my hands. For the 2 free promo, I picked Kelly and Yara. Kelly was the obvious choice because it's my name. Then I picked Yara because I don't have many greens at all and it just looked like a gorgeous color.

The pretty box that Kelly and Yara came in.

Zoya also added a color tray with their Feel, True, and Fleck Effect collections.

Left to Right: Kelly and Yara

I was impressed that Zoya added the color trays for free. It will give me a better idea of what colors I want to order next. I have my eye on some of the Fleck Effect colors along with the True collection.

I decided to try Kelly first, since how could I got wrong with something named after me? (Ok, not named after me specifically, but you get the idea.) Kelly is a dark purple creme with a hint of gray. The bottle of Kelly has a very very subtle hint of shimmer, but it doesn't show up on the nail.

See the shimmer? 

I think the color is gorgeous, but I'm also partial to blues and purples. This being the first time I've used a Zoya polish, I found the formula needed a delicate hand. The brush seemed like it wasn't picking up enough enamel, but once it was on the nail it seemed like too much. Overall though I was able to reach complete opacity in two coats and used both a base coat and top coat. 

I love this color as an alternative neutral and I think Kelly is a good reflection of my own personality. It will also make a great canvas for some nail art that I will hopefully accomplish this week! 

What do you think of Kelly? Did you participate in the Zoya promo? What are your favorite Zoya shades? Let me know in the comments section!

Swatches: Rolling in the Deep and Rumor Has It

Today I have more swatches for you of the remaining two polishes in my Adele Collection! For all swatches below I used two coats of polish with one coat of Seche Vite.

Rumor Has It is a shimmery golden green. All of the colors in this trio seem to be hard to capture in photos.

The picture above is the most color accurate to what it looks like in person.

My cat Ripley also wanted to get in on the action.

Above is Rumor Has It in natural light. I don't normally get to use natural light in my pictures, since by the time I get home on weekdays it's already dark out. Lucky for me, I had Monday off and it was sunny out (despite the below 30 degree temperatures.) 

This last picture is with flash, to show off the shimmer in the nail polish. I don't usually like green nail polish, but I'm a fan of this color. (And not just because it's my own.) 

Next is Rolling in the Deep, which is a dusty purple with a hint of grey. 

The last picture is Rolling in the Deep in natural light as well. I've place an order for supplies and hopefully within the next few months I'll have a shop up and running!

Again, I hope you enjoyed these swatches of the Adele Collection. Let me know what you think in the comments section. I'd love to get some feedback!