China Glaze Haute Metal

Somehow, this little one slipped away from me while I was reviewing the "Metals" crackle collection from China Glaze.  Haute Metal is a rosey reddish pink crackle that doesn't look good over pink (heh, tried and failed) but I figured I'd try it over my Dr.'s REMEDY Lovely from yesterday.


This is one coat of Haute Metal, topped with Seche Vite.

I think the moral of the story is that this color is best over dark colors.  It gets a bit lost with the purple underneath.

A bit more noticeable in the shade but it reminds me of like an 80s rock candy or Easter egg or something...  Hah I don't know - guess I'm reaching a little bit here.

Finally indoors with the flash.  What is your take on crackle/shatter/graffiti polish?  Is it cool still?  Are you totally over it?  My business cards feature my neon skittle crackle nails and at Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas, a lot of beauty business owners that I gave my card to were mentioning that crackle/shatter is "so over" already.  What's the next big trend?  Will magnetic nail polish make it mainstream?  I do have a lot of that to show you but it's going to be on super nubbins after breaking 3 nails yesterday.  (Fun fun).  Stay tuned!

China Glaze [official website] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty [official website], Sally's Beauty Supply [official website] as well asTransDesign [official website].

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Dr.'s REMEDY Lovely

Going back to Dr.'s REMEDY's summer collection is Lovely, a creme lavender polish that is a bit dusty with some grey.  I used a base of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of polish and a top of nubar Diamont.  The formula was nice without being streaky.

I feel like it's a bit springy instead of summer but still a good color no matter what.  The vitamins that are in Dr.'s REMEDY set it apart from something like China Glaze but I think it comes down to preference.

My nails are getting to that length where I know they are about to go.  I already have 2 splits on my left hand and I broke my index nail on my right hand which is great for using my iPhone games.  ^_^

Indoors with the flash and you can see how opaque this is with just two coats.  It is a Lovely color.  

Dr.’s REMEDY® Enriched Nail Polish is available for $16 online at http://www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  You can "Like" them on Facebook.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Cult Nails Hypnotize Me

The finale of the Hypnotic collection from Cult Nails is Hynotize Me.  Now originally, I just wasn't thrilled about this color - I didn't know exactly what it was from the bottle picture and I kept thinking "Meh."  Boy, was I wrong.  This color is like a CND Effect on steroids.  It's TONS of blue and green microglitter in a Granny Smith green apple jelly base.  It's STUNNING on the nail.  I put 2 coats on my nails but I probably could have been fine with 1 since there's so much going on in this polish.  Index finger: Enigmatic; Middle finger: In A Trace; Ring finger: Awakening; Pinkie finger: bare.  While this is a lab sample, again I believe this is very close or is the same as the actual color.  Because this is a "thirsty" glitter, I put one coat of nubar Diamont over it, and the finish was smooth but without any top coat, the top of my nail felt a bit gritty.

Hello blue baby!  As you can see on the bare nail, it's that green jelly like base color.

Moved the bottle to the side so you can see all that glitter!  I really love the way this looks over both Awakening and Enigmatic.

Shade picture.

Indoors with the flash - check out how pretty it looks!  In person you can see a shift from the green to the blue which doesn't quite capture on camera but it's super beautiful.  If you're on the fence, don't be - get it!


The Hypnotic Collection is now available in their shop for $10 a bottle or $40 for the whole collection.  You can like Cult Nails on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.  Once they reach 5,000 Likes on Facebook, Maria will be offering all polishes for only $5!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Cult Nails Enigmatic

Continuing with Cult Nail's fall collection is Enigmatic, a dark purple with silver micro-glitter.  Now please note that while this is a lab sample, I do believe it's very close to the final result - if not the exact same.  Like Awakening, the first coat for me was a little too jelly but after just one more coat, the polish was opaque (except for my pinkie - not sure what happened there).  I used a base of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of polish and a top of nubar Diamont.

Unlike most dark purples out these days, there is no red and blue microglitter (THANK YOU MARIA!) but instead just a bit of silver.  I decided to turn the bottle so you can see how it pretty it is.

It's so swirly pretty!  

In the shade, you can see that silver microglitter a bit better.  Because this is a dark vampy purple, it looks super dark without the sun behind it.

Finally indoors with the flash - again I don't know what was going on with my pinkie but this is a very nice opaque polish with 2 coats.  Very lovely and actually unique in my collection!


The Hypnotic Collection is now available in their shop for $10 a bottle or $40 for the whole collection.  You can like Cult Nails on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.  Once they reach 5,000 Likes on Facebook, Maria will be offering all polishes for only $5!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Dr,'s REMEDY Instant Cover

Please enjoy the following press release from Dr.'s REMEDY!

DR.'S REMEDY INTRODUCES ENRICHED INSTANT COVER

The Easiest Way to Perfect Your Skintone

Dr.'s REMEDY is proud to announce the launch of an amazing, awe-inspiring concealing cream, Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover, ideal for legs that need some extra loving. Intended to minimize any skin-tone imperfection from head to toe, this cream will become your most-adored vanity staple.


Have spider veins? Cover them with Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover, which glides on smoothly and dries instantly to reveal a flawless finish. Loath those sun spots? Conceal them quickly with Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover. Annoyed by pesky birthmarks? Camouflage them in a flash with Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover. Grown tired of that tattoo? Hide the evidence with Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover.


Boasting an ingredient list that's good-for-your-skin, such as tea tree oil, lavender, vitamins C and E and wheat protein, Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover is a water resistant goof-and-fool-proof solution for perfecting a less-than-stellar skin tone situation.


Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover is available in Light, Medium and Deep for $40 online at www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.


Dr.'s REMEDY is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic ingredients. The birth-child of two New York-based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel, Dr.'s REMEDY proves quintessentially-perfect for any person looking to better the condition of her skin and nails; their Enriched Nail Polish is the first-ever nail polish on the market approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association. Dr.'s REMEDY is sold online at www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  Dr.'s REMEDY has a Facebook Page online as well.

Cult Nails In A Trance

The fall Hypnotic collection from Cult Nails is available online now!  This is In A Trance, a shimmering olive green that has a gold shift to it.  I really thought it was going to be a drab color at first but the gold in this really punches it up!  I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of polish and a top of nubar Diamont.  Diamont played very well with this polish, and Maria had said that she used Diamont in the past and never had a problem so I'm pretty sure it was just user error on my part.

Here in the sun you can start already to see that gold flash in there - it's such a pretty color!  Definitely a fall color for sure (which this 100 degree weather is for the birds) as I think it would look amazing with a long sweater :]

Here in the shade you can really see the olive green but the gold shimmer is a lot more hidden.  It's a great use of shimmer though because it's not streaky and not overly flashy.

Finally indoors with the flash and it's just a beautiful flash of gold and green at the same time.  I'm glad that I looked at this color twice because it's so pretty!


And I have something up my sleeve for my dear readers!  More on it later but it has to do with Awakening and In a Trance.  ^_^

The Hypnotic Collection is now available in their shop for $10 a bottle or $40 for the whole collection.  You can like Cult Nails on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.  Once they reach 5,000 Likes on Facebook, Maria will be offering all polishes for only $5!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Dr.'s REMEDY Bold

Next in the Dr,'s REMEDY Hot Hot Hot Summer 2011 Collection is Bold, a baby blue shimmer that has a lot of sparkly white in it.  I originally thought it might be like Zoya Crystal but Bold doesn't have any gold in it.  I used a base of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of Bold and a top of nubar Diamont.  The formula on this was much better than Nurture.

It almost looks a bit matte in the sun like Zoya Phoebe but has more of a metallic/foil like finish than matte.  If you don't like the brush strokes of pearl shimmer, then you can always add a crackle or glitter over it to disguise it.

In the shade, the silver shimmer totally takes over and this looks like a completely different polish!  It reminds me of an ice blue - not at all like the metallic seen above.

Finally indoors with the flash (and a naked thumb!) and that blue metallic is glaring again.  Even though I have some similar colors this is unique in my bunch.  

Dr.’s REMEDY® Enriched Nail Polish is available for $16 online at http://www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  You can "Like" them on Facebook.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Dr.'s REMEDY Nurture

So I finally took my Shellac off my left hand after getting to work on a super secret beauty project and figured that it was time to check out the Dr.'s REMEDY Summer Hot Hot Hot Collection.  First today is Nurture, a nude pink with a very slight pink shimmer.  It's hard to see it, but I promise it's in there.  I used a base of Zoya Get Even, 3 coats of Nurture and a top of nubar Diamont.  I did find this color to be a little streaky and had a few bald spots as you'll see now.

Here in the sun, you can see a bit of spottiness on my pinkie and middle fingers.  While this is a good nude pink, it's just too streaky for my liking.

It's even more telling in the shade on the sheeriness and whatnot.  You can also finally see the shimmer in the bottle but it's still pretty lost on the nail.

Crazy indoor shot - this took me like 5 tries to get to focus and I think that the color is a bit too warm for me. I'm about to have to cut my nails again after one split on me the other night.  As a nude, it's a nice color but I think I'd pass since I have so many nudes already and the shimmer doesn't really show up on the nail.

Dr.’s REMEDY® Enriched Nail Polish is available for $16 online at http://www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  You can "Like" them on Facebook.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Cult Nails Awakening

During Cosmoprof, I had the privilege of meeting Maria from Cult Nails.  I recently splurged on the Cult Convert Pack (no longer available) where Maria was selling all 9 Cult Nails colors for $75.  Normally, these polishes go for $10 a piece.  After we had dinner on Monday, Maria presented me with the entire Hypnotic collection and this is Awakening, a murky green blue squishy jelly creme.  When I first saw this, I thought it was a straight teal cream like Let Me Fly but without the glitter but nope!  I was pleasantly surprised.


I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Awakening and a top of nubar Diamont.  I recently was given a bottle of Diamont while at Cosmoprof from Mr. Noubar Abrahamian himself (he was so nice and polite!).  After I took my pictures, I decided to go shower and while I was in my shower, my Diamont shrunk up on me against my tips and I had some major dent-age on a few nails.  I'm not sure what was up with that - does Cult Nails not play well with nubar?  We'll see because I'm going to keep testing this Diamont since I always see people raving about it.

Diamont does make my polish SUPER shiny... that and probably the 100+ degree sun.  (I lost a bottle of PeaceKeeper today due to the heat.)  So here in the sun, you can see that this does look pretty teal, kinda green, murkyish... You don't see the jelly as much as I did in the first coat, but that's a good thing because I needed something added to make this color work - and it did!

The shade picture was harder to get because the red tones from my red metal roof (dead serious) but just for the opacity of this color is why you need it.  It's a great staple color or can be dressed up with others like Hypnotize Me also in this collection.

Indoors with the flash and not much else to say about this - it has great coverage and applied well.  The only thing is that Diamont didn't do well for me in the shower - I need to try it longer to see if it's the formula of Diamont alone or if it's with Cult Nails.


The Hypnotic Collection which includes Awakening pre-sale is over (pre-orders are shipping this Saturday already!) but this is their fall collection so it should be and is now available in their shop for $10 a bottle.  You can like Cult Nails on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.  Once they reach 5,000 Likes on Facebook, Maria will be offering all polishes for only $5!


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Julep Maven

ThePolishAholic has stopped supporting the Julep Maven boxes.  You can read her comments why here.  I have removed the links to her posts since they no longer exist on her blog.


After reading ThePolishAholic's post here on the Julep Maven "beauty editor Sneak Peak Box"*, I knew it was time to bite the bullet and try it myself.  You take a small "quiz" on colors you like, people you relate to (it's not long promise), and will get your "style" persona.  (I was the American Beauty.)


The boxes ship on the 26th of the month, so it will be a bit before I see mine, but it seems like a great program.  The FAQ has a lot of great answers including that you can send your box to a friend free of charge by just changing the address on your account before midnight of the 25th of the month.  You can SKIP a month which hello, that's amazing.  Shipping is always free.  Oh did I mention that it's $40 worth of new, never released, trending polish colors and treatment, current hits and cult favorites but only costs $20?  My friend Karen goes to the actual Julep Parlor for her pedicures and constantly raves about the products so I'm excited to check it out.


Even better, right now, the first 100 people who sign up (according to their Facebook page) can use the code FBMAVEN and get their first month for only $9.99.  I just tried it now and it worked, so if you want to spend $10 and check it out, please do use my referral link* or any referral link you've seen on a blogger's site (like ThePolishAholic - I used her link when I signed up!).  Anyone can get a referral link, and you receive a $15 credit each time someone signs up.


Once I get my box, I'll review it but again, check out the ThePolishAholic to see what was in the August box!


Updated 2 January 2012
*The Julep link is an affiliate link.  If you sign up using this link, I will receive 1 "credit."  After 2 "credits", I receive one free month (only applies if you remain enrolled for 30 days after purchasing your first Maven box).