ILNP Fall Collection Picks

Hey everyone, in anticipation of the ILNP Fall Collection release this Friday Oct. 2, I've got the picks I purchased from the preorder earlier this month on the blog today so you can peruse and I can do my best to tempt you.



These are some gorgeous polishes, with a little something for everyone, we've got vamp, we've got flake, we've got multichrome and we have HOLO!



The formula on all of these were top notch, which is what I've come to love an expect from ILNP. All were two coaters and swatched without top coat. So let's get to the gorgeous polishes shall we?!









First up we have ILNP Mountain View. This one I knew I had to have no matter what it looked like. I live right next door to Mountain View (home to Google and many other high techs) and I write about the city for my job all the time, so I knew I just had to have this beauty no matter what! And to my wonderful surprise the color is just AMAZING.

This polish is a darkened teal jelly packed with holo shards and copper flakies, which give the polish such a depth and sets it apart from any old regular darkened teal holo!









Next we have the super vampy and gorgeous ILNP Diablo. This is a gorgeous oxblood jelly polish with the gorgeous holo shards ILNP has offered and perfects. The holo particles in the jelly base have such a gorgeous depth to them, its like sparkles for miles!









This is the delicate ILNP Maiden Lane. This was another polish that pulled me in from the start. It is a beautiful soft ultra holo, which mixes fine holo pigment with the holo shards and just a touch of color for the ultimate linear holo finish. The color of this one is very subtle, but it is a gorgeous lavender leaning grey polish. I say this is the perfect palate cleanser color that defies any season! It's a wonderful transitional color.









Next up is the ILNP Greatness, and boy is this polish just filled with greatness! This is from ILNP Ultra Chrome line, which have the best shifts in my opinion, and this is just the ultimate fall warm hued color shift. When I wore it I felt is shifted mostly between a magenta/darkened red to orange/gold. It represents the changing leaf colors perfectly, can't wait to do some seasonal nail art with this!!!









It is soooo the year of the brown holos and ILNP's addition to the trend is Overnight Bag. The awesome thing about Overnight Bag is, it's brown, but it is also sometimes pulling a vampy reddish tones. It also has the holo shard pieces and other holo pigment suspended in a jelly base creating a scattered sparkle effect. A standout in the collection if you ask me!









And finally, a flakie to match the multichrome shift of Greatness, this is ILNP Glory. I swatched this one over Overnight Bag because I saw it in the fan group and it is what made both Glory and Overnight Bag a must purchase for me! And, after a long day of swatching, this was what I ended up with on my nails so this is my mani for the next few days too. I just love it SO much! This is one coat over Overnight Bag, so these flakies definitely pack a punch. But I also like how they are small pieces, so they don't completely overpower the base, you can still see the beauty of Overnight Bag peaking through.

Now let's dish, what did you get from the preorder? Or have you not purchased yet and are going to during the regular release of the Fall Collection which is this Friday October 2? Either way which are your favorites? I am in love with each one of these and I am so happy I got all of them, and all because I bet on my spouse losing at the casino in Lake Tahoe a few weekends back. Hooray to betting on losing! I win every time!

Hope you all have fantastic weeks ahead of you! I've got the new Smitten Polish collection on Wednesday and a super fun surprise nail art project launching Friday so stay tuned!!!

KBShimmer In Bare Form dotticure

First off, I'm going to start this post by gushing about KBShimmer's In Bare Form. You guys, I think I've found my perfect most beautiful nude polish. I forever have looked for a nude polish that would work with my neutral skin tone.

Now not only have I found it, it applies and wears like a dream and it is HOLO! This is such a perfect polish and I am so happy to have found it.



Seriously, after you've checked out my nail art click on over to the KBShimmer website and pick up this gem, it's only $8.75 - a steal!



So I did this nail art on a day when I got an awesome nail mail package. I seriously had so many amazing holo polishes in front of me, I didn't know where to start. So when in doubt, use all the polish for nail art!



So the dots, from bottom to top are Dance Legend Blanco, Colors by Llarowe Soccer Mom, Colors by Llarowe Chillin' in Paradise, Colors by Llarowe In Another Dimension, Colors by Llarowe Surf My Wave and ILNP Summer Stargazing.



So what do you think of this manicure? I really liked it and In Bare Form made the most gorgeous backdrop for this ombre type dotticure!

ILNP Summer Stargazing and Fourth of July nail art

Coming to you all a day earlier than I usually post, because of the holiday! First off I'll lead with the nail art, since it's just in time for the Fourth of July. I was inspired by the name of my polish ILNP's Summer Stargazing, thought I would do some stars and stripes in honor of the holiday.



The stars looked great over Summer Stargazing, the stripes were an experiment. I used Zoya Sarah, and I rather liked the subtle look of the stripes. This wasn't a typical in your face flag manicure or a Red White and Blue manicure even. I thought this was unique!



This was my manicure from last year. Typical flag mani. I still liked it though! But look at my cuticles and application!!! I think I've much improved my nail polishing skills for sure!



Now on to the polish review. ILNP Summer Stargazing was a stunner. Bright blue with beautiful holo finish!





Application: This went on perfectly in two thin coats. Similar in consistency to it's sister polish Rehab, which I reviewed yesterday! I topped it with a coat of HK Girl Top Coat, which is also a perfect topper for nail art because it doesn't smear it!

Where to purchase: You can purchase ILNP Summer Stargazing for $10 on the ILNP website!

ILNP Rehab

Just stopping by to show you some swatches of I Love Nail Polish brand's Rehab. This polish is a vibrant teal shimmer with holo in the sun.



If you see imperfections in my application, I have to apologize, I applied this while relaxing in my mother's backyard while out of town a few weeks ago. I didn't have my usual tools and the sunshine might have messed things up a bit. I still think it looks fabulous!



This is definitely a green leaning teal, but it is beautiful in sun, above, and in the shade, below. This color is right up my alley! I love it!



This polish also looks great on toes as well! While I was doing my nails, my mom snagged my bottle an did her toes!



Application: This was a great formula, went on like a breeze in two thin coats. The polish was a little thicker than an average cream, but it did not make application difficult. I topped it with HK Girl Top Coat, didn't dull that holo!

Where to Purchase: Rehab is a part of ILNP's Summer 2014 collection. I purchased this for $9 in their presale, it now retails for $10. It has some amazing sister polishes too - I recently used Bikini Bottoms as a pedicure and it was beautiful. Used Summer Stargazing in my patriotic Fourth of July manicure too - more on that Friday!

Holo stripes nail art

I loved this manicure I just did last week so much it skipped the line and I blogged about it as soon as I could. I actually just removed this manicure Sunday morning, I wore it for a whole half week! Which is really unheard of for me!!!



I started the manicure with a layer of OPI Alpine Snow and once it was dry enough, added some thin stripe nail vinyls to create the look.



The polishes I used were, from top to bottom, Colors by Llarowe Chillin' in Paradise, Colors by Llarowe In A Different Dimension, Colors by Llarowe Surf My Wave and ILNP Summer Star Gazing. The sunshine shots of this manicure are just amazing!!!





And as an added bonus and happy accident, I discovered (well it was pointed out to me actually) that my nails totally matched my iPhone case! Guess I really do love those colors.



I really loved this manicure, it was aquatic, without being too overly oceanic (a theme I've been going to a lot lately). The colors looked spectacular when I was at the pool on Saturday. This is definitely the best and most favorite nail art I have done in some time! What do you think? You could really do this with any color scheme, but I loved the blue/green theme as they are my favorite colors!

P.S. I am a part of my online friend The Mercurial Magpie's First Blogaversary and I have included a prize (1 of 30!!!)! So head on over to her site to enter the contest!

Review, swatches and stamping with ILNP Reminisce

I was waiting forever to try this polish it seemed like, because after I ordered my multichromes from ILNP, it seemed it was never cloudy in California – therefore not optimal photographing weather for multichromes.

There was scheduled rain recently, so I decided to take a shot and throw ILNP Reminisce on my nails. This is a beautiful medium green that flashes teal when in the proper shading.

I was so excited, I was going to pair this polish with an indie I got at Christmastime but still never had the chance to try.



The accent nail is Gloss n' Sparkle Goblin's Grave and boy was it a headache. I don't know if I just needed to thin it but the formula was difficult to work with. Gloppy and I couldn't get the glitter placement I so desired. After three coats and a lopsided drying job, I sat through a school board meeting only to come home and change the accent nails and add some stamping to make the manicure better.



For the stamping I used MoYou London's Sailor Plate 04, my current favorite plate/brand to stamp with. MoYou is a pricier plate to purchase, but their plates are so easy to use!



I didn't stamp all the nails so I could still display the color shift of ILNP Reminisce, it even looked great in indirect sunlight (below)!



Application: Reminisce was a great polish, went on in two thin coats. You could add a third for optimal color shift. These swatches are without any dark undercoat, the ILNP multichrome formula is great. As I said, Goblin's Grave was really hard to work with, that being said, I'm not ready to give up on it yet. Maybe some thinner will do it some good.

Where to purchase: I purchased ILNP Reminisce from their website for $11.50 during presale, it now retails for $12.50. I purchased Gloss n' Sparkle Goblins Grave from Llarowe at a sale at Christmas, doesn't look to be available online anymore though. You can find Gloss n Sparkle polishes, an Australian polish company, at their website.

Looking ahead: I just got a slew of nail mail this weekend and am going to be in major swatch mode for the next few days. Need to tell myself not to nail art everything, wearing just one color is ok too!