SinfulColors Solar Flux

*Sent for review*

I am a huge lover of yellow polish and matte polish. For me, the matte trend never died. So imagine my delight at the new SinfulColors Solar Flux, a matte banana pudding yellow! Solar Flux comes from the Silk + Satin Collection for Summer 2014, featuring 6 demi-matte polishes with a "silk texture". Solar Flux is matte, but not completely flat. It has a lovely soft sheen to it that I really like. It's not quite full-on shimmer, but it's there and softens the look of the matte finish.

 For such a soft yellow shade, Solar Flux applied pretty well. This is three coats and the first coat went on a bit streaky. The end result is fairly smooth looking, not as streaky as other pale yellows. If you are not a fan of the demi-matte silk finish, you could top coat this for a great light yellow creme look.

*Sent for review*

I love this silk finish! It's especially pretty in the creamy yellow color. I also love that it dries fast and doesn't need top coat, yay for lazy people! SinfulColors Solar Flux and the rest of the Silk + Satin collection will be available exclusively at Walgreens in July and will retail for $1.99.

Born Pretty Store W-03 Stamping Plate

 *Sent for review*

I've been getting back into stamping lately, mostly using it for fun accent nails, so I was excited to try this stamping plate that Born Pretty Store sent me. This plate is their W-03 plate and it's only $1.99 on their site right now! Hard to beat that! It has an interesting selection of nature-themed patterns, including butterflies, a cute snail, paw prints, hoof prints, a ladybug, a seashell and several kinds of flowers. It also has a flaming heart and feet, haha! 

Now, my stamping skills are definitely rusty (they were never good to begin with) and I had a few difficulties with some of the designs. I wanted to use the cute snail, but I could not for the life of me get the whole image to transfer to the stamper. I am assuming this is my fault and I will try again after I practice a bit more. I also couldn't get one of the butterflies to transfer properly. So I ended up with the flaming heart, feet, and paw prints (although the paw print on my pinkie nail came out better than the two on my ring nail). My base color is Orly Berry Blast and I used the Konad white polish to stamp.

For $1.99, I think this plate is worth it. I really wanted it mostly for the adorable paw prints! I want to do a mani with my black cat stickers from Born Pretty Store and these paw prints, how cute would that be! I hope I can work on my stamping skills and get the snail to work, because I really love that image too.

*Sent for review*

If you're looking around for something cheap and cute to add to your next Born Pretty Store order, consider this stamping plate if you like nature-themed designs like I do. Born Pretty Store has a bunch of stamping plates, including one with a mustache design that I want next! Remember to use the coupon code ERJ61 to receive 10% off your next order.

Maybelline Lime Accent

 *Purchased by me*

These Maybelline Bleached Neons are becoming fast favorites of mine. I have the last one in my collection to show you today (until I find Bleached in Peach, that is), Maybelline Lime Accent. Lime Accent is a bright, yet washed out lime yellow green. Like the other Bleached Neons, this bright, yet not neon, and somehow also looks kind of soft. Lime Accent is a whitened lime, making it different from other lime greens I own. Let me apologize for the cat hair on my ring finger that I am just noticing now. Black cat fur has become such a part of my existence that I guess I don't even see it anymore. Embarrassing!

Lime Accent definitely has some streaking issues. This is three coats and I couldn't really get it to be perfectly streak-free. I had hopes because the yellow from this collection was pretty good, but this one was a bit of a pain. I couldn't see the streaks from any distance, so I will still wear this a lot, given the great color! I also could try the matte top coat layering method to reduce streaks (layering matte top coat in between layers of the polish sometimes fixes streaky polish!).

Despite the tendency to streak, I really love Lime Accent. The color is fantastic and super eye-catching. My friend was wearing it the other day, and I was immediately attracted to it like a bee to honey. If you happen to be tan (not me), this would look amazing and really pop against your tan. I found all of my Maybelline Bleached Neons at Rite Aid.

New Polishes from NYC City Samba and Sally Hansen Rio Collections!

 *Sent for review*

Today I have three polishes from the new NYC City Samba and Sally Hansen Rio collections. These collections are really bright and fun for summer. I haven't seen them in my local drugstores yet, but whenever I do, I'll probably pick up a few more colors from both. This lovely peach shade is NYC Sweet Melon. Sweet Melon is a great bright peach creme that has some hidden shimmer. The only time I really saw this shimmer was in direct sunlight, but you can definitely see it in the pictures.  Sweet Melon is a bit softer than it looks in these pictures, not quite as bright, but not pastel either.

Peach polish can be almost as bad to apply as yellow, but Sweet Melon was pretty good. This is three coats, but it wasn't too streaky and it was pretty pigmented. Depending on the thickness of your coats, you might be fine with two. Again, the bubbles were caused by my top coat. I seriously need to get that thinner, I apologize!

For some reason these pictures with the glitter topper make Sweet Melon look like fake cheese sauce, but ignore that. It's a lovely peach! The pretty glitter topper is Sally Hansen Samba, a mix of matte blue and pale yellow-green glitters in a clear base. I love the fact that the glitters are matte, it definitely makes Samba different and eye-catching. Samba needs to be dabbed on, the base is a bit thick. After dabbing some of the glitter on the nail, I moved it around a bit with the brush to even out the coverage. But once you get the hang of dabbing and placing the glitter where you want it, it was OK to apply.

Taking pictures of NYC Palm on the Beach really frustrated me. Palm on the Beach is a lovely medium true green, and my camera was just freaking out about it. It kept turning it blue, like completely blue, or making it look almost neon. So I will have to just describe it the best I can for you. Palm on the Beach is a nicely balanced green, not too blue or yellow, just real green. It is lighter than Essie Pretty Edgy, but similar in color. It's bright feeling, but not neon or pastel. My first picture makes it looks too bright and too yellow. The picture below is a bit too blue, but closer. The closest I got is the third picture, with Sally Hansen Samba on top, but my skin is a crazy color LOL.

Palm on the Beach was lovely to apply. This is just two coats, it was nicely pigmented and smooth. It's from NYC's fast dry line and it did dry quite quickly. Overall, I love this polish. I just wish it was easier to photograph! It's not that unusual of a color, so I am confused about why it was so hard.

And now this one below looks all dusty and more blue again.... WTF camera?????

 *Sent for review*

Despite my photography fail, I love all three of these polishes. Sweet Melon is a must if you like peachy melon shades and Palm on the Beach is perfect for green lovers. I like Samba a lot too, I think it's a very summery color combo, but it needs a wee bit of patience. The entire NYC City Samba and Sally Hansen Rio collections are available now in drugstores and places like Ulta. The City Samba also has gorgeous lip glosses, bronzers and three shades of nail art polish with ultra thin brush tips. I need to go find these collections in stores soon!

Seize the Summer with Nicole by OPI's 4 New Shades!

 *Sent for review*

Are you enjoying summer so far? It's hard to believe it's finally here, I feel like spring went by fast! Nicole by OPI has given us 4 new fun shades for the summer festivities in their Seize the Summer collection. This pretty bright pink creme is Nicole by OPI LeaPink for Joy. LeaPink for Joy is a nice bright pink that isn't a neon, nor is it close to neon. So if you like to wear brights in the summer, but really aren't a neon fan, this would be great for you. It's not too blue-based either, so it should flatter a variety of skin tones.

LeaPink for Joy was easy to apply. This is two coats, it was nicely pigmented and went on smoothly. The air bubble on my middle nail was caused by my misbehaving top coat. Every top coat I own needs thinner right now and I ran out of it, grrrr! Must get some this week.

Nicole by OPI Lay It On the Lime is a very interesting shade of spearmint. It's bright, yet also kind of pale at the same time, and it definitely has a yellow cast to it. This is a citrus yellow-green. I totally love this and will definitely have a nice place for it in my collection. I think the last picture might be the most color accurate, this was slightly difficult to capture. It's a unique balance of bright and light.

Lay It On the Lime wasn't super easy to work with, but not terrible either. It's definitely a three-coater. The first coat is pretty sheer and had a streak or two, but the third coat really evened it out. Just use a little care to not make too many brushstrokes on each nail and you should be fine.

Nicole by OPI Shaved Nice is a mix of silver, matte white, green and pink glitters in clear base. The glitter mix is mostly silver and white with a smattering of the colored glitters. The silver and colored glitters are shiny, but the overall effect is not too shiny looking, thanks to the matte white glitter and the fact that the silver glitter is pretty teeny. I thought this would be similar to Muppet's World Tour, just based on the glitter colors, but it's totally different.

This is just one coat of Shaved Nice over Lay It On the Lime. I don't think this would really be a great full coverage glitter, but it is perfect for layering over anything! It applies very easily and the glitter spreads around evenly.

I am forever a fan of coral polish in the summer. I don't ever get tired of seeing it, even though I probably own 20 coral cremes. Nicole by OPI The Coral of the Story is a fantastic choice for a bright coral creme. It is a reddened coral, but you can definitely still see the hints of pink and orange that make it a coral. It's bright and cheery for sure, but not neon. I think this would be really flattering on almost every skin tone as well. It does have enough pink in there for the very fair, pink-toned people, but also plenty of red and orange for warmer colorings.

This is two coats of The Coral of the Story and it had an excellent formula. Great pigmentation and super easy, smooth application. Love!

Here's two coats of Shaved Nice over The Coral of the Story. It looks really red-orange with the glitter over it, doesn't it? I like Shaved Nice, it's a good layering glitter that's a bit sparkly, but not crazy. You could put it over anything.

*Sent for review*

For a small 4-piece release, I really like these polishes! The Coral of the Story and Lay It On the Lime are my favorites, with Lay It On the Lime being the most unique. But Shaved Ice and LeaPink for Joy are great choices if you need a new layering glitter or bright pink creme.

Nicole by OPI's 4 new nail lacquers are available now for $7.99 each at retailers including select Fred Meyer, CVS, Duane Reade, H-E-B, Ulta, Harmon, Kmart locations. In Canada, these shades will be available for $10.99 each at select Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart and Target Canada.

For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com. Follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter @NicoleByOPI and become a Facebook fan!

Sally Hansen Color Foil Rose Copper

 *Purchased by me*

I hope you're all enjoying the weekend right now like I am! Sorry for the late post today, but after doing some swatching this morning, I took a nice long run because it's such a gorgeous day out! My NOTD for the last few days was Sally Hansen Color Foil in Rose Copper. I was excited to heard that Sally Hansen was coming out with this line of foils, but then I didn't see them in a Walgreen's near me until just last week. I picked up Rose Copper and Minted Metal to try them out. Rose Copper is a gorgeous shade of glowy rose gold. It is similar in shade to Orly Rage, but the texture is much more smooth. Rage is a chunky foil, this is a smooth shiny, very reflective foil. This reminds me of some old Sally Hansen foils that were awesome, and the good Avon foils too, I think I still have those!

Happily, the formula of Rose Copper is also better than Orly Rage. Rose Copper is easy to apply and was completely opaque in two coats. The instructions on the bottle recommend not using base or top coat and I definitely agree about the base coat for sure. I tried applying this over a base coat and it was a bit streaky. Over clean nails, it was a total dream, almost a one-coater. Over on Makeup Alley's Nail Board, we have a term, "nail pajamas", that refers to a polish you can apply super lazily (no base coat, one or two coats only, no top coat) and still have a nice mani. The Sally Hansen Color Foils have been deemed nail pajamas for sure!

*Purchased by me*

I am in love with Sally Hansen Rose Copper and can't wait to try Minted Metal soon. I hope maybe Walgreen's will have a sale soon so I can just buy the rest of the Color Foils. I think it'd be well worth it!

New SinfulColors Silk + Satin and Full Throttle Collections for Summer 2014!

SINFULCOLORS INTRODUCES  SILK + SATIN & FULL THROTTLE  FOR SUMMER 2014

SILK + SATIN A New Demi-Matte Collection for Summer Slip into summer with this sinfully luxurious new nail polish collection from SinfulColors.  This NEW demi-matte silk texture in summer brights is a must have fashion accessory. In rich matte shades and lustrous textures, they're guaranteed to add a little sunshine to your summer style.  The SinfulColors Silk + Satin collection features sultry blues, pale banana yellow, fruity coral, even soft silver.  And, for a glamorous twist, add SinfulColors Clear Topcoat on tips, or in creative designs to add a satin shine to these stunning silk shades. The six silky hues from the Silk + Satin SinfulColors collection clearly indicates a bright summer forecast ahead. Matte About Blue: A matte-nificent cornflower blue Pipaya: A soft flash of coral Prime Purple: A delicate dose of lilac Real Teal: A quiet mermaid green Silver Solution: A gentle, shimmering silver Solar Flux: A subtle touch of yellow SinfulColors Silk + Satin, $1.99 Walgreens and other mass retailers for July 2014. FULL THROTTLE Racy Shades for Summer Pedal to the medal nail polish ranks big this summer. Think racy shades in rubberized textures.  SinfulColors introduces its Full Throttle collection this summer with a starting lineup of five smoking hot hues that'll put your nails into overdrive.  The ramped-up texturized shades range from radiant red to a powerful punch of purple to fiery orange. Here, these five race-iest colors are guaranteed to make you look like a champion, on and off the tracks! Rain Rubber: A brilliant burnout blue Burn Rubber: A fiery-fueled orange Race Rubber: A powerful punch of purple Rubber Ball: A passionate pit stop pink Red Tired: A racy, radiant red   SinfulColors Full Throttle, $1.99 at Rite Aid in July 2014 and Walgreens for August 2014.

Lynnderella Manis, Vol VIII

 *Purchased by me*

Today I have my three most recent Lynnderella manis for your enjoyment and all three are from the spring Bunny Magic core collection. Lynnderella Bunny Nosegay is a multiglitter with many colors of both pastel and neon glitters in a  multi-colored shimmer base. The shimmer in the base is SO gorgeous in person, it flashes pink, purple and blue and really adds dimension to the polish. I always love Lynnderella's multiglitters, the colors look so cheerful all together.

This is one dabbed coat of Bunny Nosegay over two coats of China Glaze Peachy Keen. I stamped the flowers on the accent nail with China Glaze Heli-Yum. I'm really into stamped accent nails at the moment. I haven't stamped in forever, so I'm trying to get better at it too, haha. The flowers look a little bit melted, but I tried!

Lynnderella Bunny Robin is a sky blue microglitter in a heavily pink-shimmered base. The resulting effect is almost like a pink/blue duochrome at times and it's really lovely. Bunny Robin also contains some larger pastel blue, pink and yellow glitters, both matte and shiny. This is definitely a unique polish, thanks to the strong pink shimmer. I wish it showed up a bit more in my pictures. You can see it on the ring finger in the picture above, but it's more obvious in person.

You could definitely wear Bunny Robin alone in 2-3 coats, but I layered two thin coats over OPI Dining Al Frisco. Lynnderella's microglitters are very easy to use with or without a base. I like that because it makes them more versatile.

Lynnderella Rare Pink Bunicorn is another microglitter, this time it's a shade of delicate pink. Lynnderella says this one has "pink, white and neon pink microglitters accented with assorted pink glitters in a pink-shimmered clear base". It's a lot of pink!

Rare Pink Bunicorn seems to be more sheer than other Lynnderella microglitters I have tried. I used one coat over OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender for this mani. I tested it alone without a base on one nail and felt like it would need 4 coats for opacity, but I have seen others wear it alone in just 3 coats. I hate to do 4 coats of a Lynn, so I decided to use a base! Conserve the pretties!

The Lynnderella Bunny Magic collection is available now at lynnderella.com, Glitter Connect and Norway Nails.

Also, congratulations to Jessi, the winner of my $25 in your Paypal account giveaway! I will have a polish giveaway in about 2 weeks, so hang in there!

*I purchased all of the polishes in this post, except for OPI Dining Al Frisco (sent for review).

Maybelline Ultra Violet

*Purchased by me*

Maybelline Ultra Violet is another Bleached Neons polish I picked up during the Rite Aid sale. Ultra Violet is a really interesting shade of pinky purple. It's pinker than a lot of pale purples I own, but more purple than pink! I apologize that these pictures aren't very sharp and crisp, the sharper pictures were not very color accurate. This was a hard polish to capture. It's a bit pinker than my pictures show still. It's kind of a bright shade, but much softer than a neon. Hence the term "bleached neons" I guess!

This is two coats of Ultra Violet and the formula is great. It's very pigmented and smooth. The first coat went on nicely with no streaks and was almost opaque by itself. I love this polish, it'll definitely be a staple color for me this summer.

*Purchased by me*

I love this shade so much that I mistakenly purchased two of them LOL! For some reason, I thought I didn't own it yet and bought a second one. So if you want a bottle, I'll be giving my spare away as part of a larger giveaway coming up soon! Otherwise, check your local drugstores.