Poshe Top Coat & Family

I've been bouncing around with different base and top coats, and now I will be trying another line of products by AII - Poshe!  I know a lot of you have seen or heard of it before, and some even swear by it.  I'll be testing it out for about a month and let you know the results!  Please enjoy the following press release from AII!

SAFE AND EFFECTIVE COMPLETE NAIL CARE

Poshé Promotes Healthy Nails Without Damaging Chemicals

Los Angeles, CA – (February 2012): Formulated without Formaldehyde, Toluene and Phthalates, it’s no wonder that Poshé Top Coat is a five-time winner of Allure Magazine’s “Best Top Coat” award and three-time winner of Nails Magazine’s “Readers’ Choice Award”. Poshé Top Coat, along with the rest of the Poshé family of complete nail care products, is coveted by top-notch nail care professionals and nail fanatics alike.

Products in the Poshé line include:

Image courtesy of AII

Poshé Topcoat: This revolutionary formula dries to the touch in one minute. Remarkable gloss and no shrinking make this top coat one of the best in the business.

Image courtesy of AII

Poshé Nail Strengthening Basecoat: This basecoat promotes hardness and helps flexibility, while working as a ridge filler and conditioning nails at the same time. UV inhibitors protect nails from damaging sun rays.

Image courtesy of AII

Poshé Fast Drying Base Coat: For natural or artificial nails, this fast drying, non-yellowing and chip resistant basecoat helps maintain the beauty of the manicure. Great for pedicures as well, this basecoat also protects from staining.

Image courtesy of AII

Poshé AHA Cuticle Care: A unique blend of Alpha Hydroxy Acids and botanicals are specially formulated to exfoliate and hydrate problem cuticles. It can also be used on elbows, feet and other dry areas. Great for preventing hangnails while promoting healthy nail growth.

About Poshé Nail Care

A logical approach to creating strong, flexible nails based on the science of the natural nail, Poshé uses elements found naturally within the nail plate to nourish and condition, without the use of dehydration techniques. The result is strong, long, natural nails that resist breakage. All Poshé nail care products are formaldehyde and toluene free.

www.poshenails.com

About American International Industries

For 40 years, A.I.I. has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women.  Our product lines include 5 Second Nail, Ardell Eyelashes, Andrea Eyelashes, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Correctionist, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, It’s So Easy, Jeris-Lustray, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks,  Woltra, Woody’s Grooming and Youthair. For more information, visit: www.aiibeauty.com

China Glaze It's Alive

Going through my boxes of polishes, and I grabbed China Glaze It's Alive from the 2010 Halloween Haunting collection.  It's a green glitter in a green base - both microglitter and larger round glitter.  My brush was a bit on the "fluffy" side, not thin and uniform, but more like a kabuki brush.


I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and a top of CND Air Dry.  Even though this is a bit of a thirsty glitter, it was smooth after just one coat of CND Air Dry.

Here in the sun, you can see how nicely opaque this polish is!  I had a bit of a clean up issue on my pinkie, mostly to unsteady hands.

In the shade, this color really pops!  The different glitters really show up nicely even though it's all green.

Indoors with the flash - not as amazing... looks very mossy green - great Halloween polish but also St. Patrick's Day!  If you can still find this color at a local salon/beauty supply store on sale, snatch it up!

China Glaze [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty, Sally's Beauty Supply as well as TransDesign.

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

nubar Purple Beach

Before chopping down to nubbins, I decided to get a few more nail polishes swatched while I had beautiful long nails.  I picked up this awesome nubar duochrome - Purple Beach - while at Cosmoprof North America.  It's still available on their website (product S203) for $8.00.


I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and a top of CND Air Dry.  I was super pleased that this color was opaque in 2 coats, no base of black needed!

In the sun, the purple color is quite apparent and on the edges of the nail, you can just slightly see the green.  I completely looked past the streaky/pearl finish on this polish because it's so pretty - you don't really realize it!

In the shade, again the purple is more apparent than anything else.  I attempted a picture inside with the flash but the camera couldn't focus properly so I ended up with lots of blurry pictures.

I told you this was a duochrome!  The green duochrome is best seen in indirect light.  I couldn't stop taking pictures once I figured out how to get that green to be seen, because on your nails, the duochrome is super apparent.  It's nice and strong and you'll constantly be twisting your hand around.  Definitely a happy Krystal here with this polish.

nubar can be purchased on their website for $8.00 a bottle in the US.  They do have international retailers in Russia, Sweden and the UK.  You can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter although their Twitter has been a bit bare lately.

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

Duri Rejuvacote: Update

So I'm still in love with my Duri Rejuvacote.  I've been wearing it under all manicures or just on its own and my nails have NEVER been this long.


However, on 13 January, I suffered a blow.

Boo.  I don't even remember what I was doing when it broke but the next day it snapped right off when I was taking out the garbage so I'm back to nubbins.  Here's my left hand as well.

You can see how thin my nails are on the index finger - nearly translucent!  Now I need to see about something to make them thicker since the growing is good.  :]  Duri just recently came out with a top coat as well called Miracote that I will probably be checking out when I'm done with my bottle of CND Air Dry and Seche Vite.

Duri [Website] can be purchased on their website or in salons.  I purchased my bottle for $15 at my local salon - it's priced at $14 on their website.

NOTD: 30 January 2012

Crawling out of my hole to get some blogging done.  I've mentioned it before, but I have rheumatoid arthritis (psoriasis) and just recently had to go off my medication because I can't afford it anymore.  This is the first time in a year and a half to be off it and I've been in pain and lethargic.  We've also had nothing but icky rain and clouds lately which aren't the best photo scenario.  This NOTD was from 7 January, but I'm just now writing about it.  Ugh.


I have been wanting to play with my new NCLA polishes since they came in, and decided that Miss Sunset Strip needed to be on my nails now.  I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, then China Glaze Harmony from the Romantique collection, next my Miss Sunset Strip and topped it all with CND Air Dry.

 I know it's a bit hard to see the awesomeness that's going on, but don't worry - I'll have individual reviews of each color coming soon (probably by the end of the week?) so you can see what's what.

I love all the pretty holographic and purple glitter from Miss Sunset Strip and then the beautiful purple base from Harmony.  I'm just mostly a purple fanatic all the way around.

Indoors with the flash, and this doesn't do much justice.  It almost looks like my polish is wrinkling, but I promise it's not.  Love this combination - would definitely wear it again!

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 Noble

The final color of the Fall Fever 2011 collection from Dr.'s REMEDY is Noble, a dark blue creme.  For this manicure I used a base of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and a top of CND Air Dry.

Okay, so I need to clean up better on my cuticles... funny how we always notice things like this LATER.  :|  But seriously - check out how nice this color is!  It's a straight creme, but a beautiful navy blue.

In the shade, this picture just looks weird - it's like my nails have a green cast to them?  Either way, this picture doesn't show the true blue (hah) that this color has to offer.

Finally indoors with the flash and the color really pops here!  I can't wait to wear this color again but with shorter nails and in the winter.  And maybe with some white glitter over it...  ^_^


Dr.'s REMEDY [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] Enriched Nail Polish is available for $16 online at http://www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  

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

Sally Hansen Teams Up With White + Warren

Now, granted I don't really live in a cold climate, but I know many of my readers do, so I wanted to share another good gift idea from Sally Hansen!  Please enjoy the following press release!

SALLY HANSEN TEAMS UP WITH WHITE + WARREN

TO PAMPER AND PROTECT YOUR HANDS THIS WINTER

Frigid weather doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to flawless hands. Nail authority Sally Hansen is teaming up with luxury cashmere designer White + Warran to offer consumers the warmth of beautiful gloves that they can slide their perfectly primped hands into. For a limited time, every consumer who purchases a pair of White + Warren Fingerless Gloves from the White + Warren website will receive a complimentary Sally Hansen Manicure Set filled with manicure must-haves.

Protect your hands against the drying effects of cold winter weather with White + Warren’s luxe cashmere fingerless gloves, and beautify your nails with Sally Hansen’s ultimate manicure kit. The nail essentials set includes:

• Expert Nail File – to help you achieve the perfect shape for your nails;
• Nailgrowth Miracle Serum – for instantly softened and smoothed cuticles that resist dryness and damage as they grow;
• Complete Salon Manicure in Right Said Red – an all-in-one formula that delivers base coat, vivid color, growth treatment, strengthener and top coat in one smooth polish;
• Dry, Chapped Hand Cream – an ultra-moisturizing, gentle lotion that leaves hands touchably soft all season long


The gloves can be purchased at http://www.whiteandwarren.com for $40 at this time and the Sally Hansen set comes with each purchase of the gloves for a limited time.

Overall Beauty Sneak Peek

PolishGalore is on Instagram!

Today, I had an awesome mail day.  I normally wait for my mail lady like a kid on Christmas Day, but since I knew I had this package coming from Overall Beauty, I was REALLY excited when she pulled up to my house today.  I originally placed an order on 5 January for Glitter Gal Light As A Feather (original 0.3 fl oz bottle/$14), a-england Lady of the Lake and Tristam ($12/each), and then from Kim at Overall Beauty Minerals, I wanted to try her Road to Nowhere Collection samples ($12) and Your Majesty sample ($1.50).


Overall Beauty Minerals is her own brand of eye shadows.  Currently, she is reformatting her greens/purples/blues to make them all natural so some items you see above are no longer available.  Her colors are pure mineral pigment and no fillers.  Overall Beauty Minerals are animal cruelty free.


Like I said, I originally orders the Road to Nowhere Collection which was Going Nowhere, Road Rage, Deadend Street, 100 Miles To Go, Wrong Turn, Yeah I'm Lost, Area 51 and Last Exit.  When I ordered them, Area 51 (a glittery green/grey from the picture) was no longer available.

Photo courtesy of Overall Beauty

Additionally, Your Majesty is no longer available but she was able to include it in my order.  This is a beautiful shimmery lavender purple that has a bit of a light blue tint to it.  Brooke from Blushing Noir has an amazing post here of her swatches.


Now, I cannot speak about Overall Beauty's shipping because I ordered KNOWING that my order wouldn't be shipped immediately, which is why there was such a long time between my order date and ship date.  However, when the order was shipped, it arrived with all items in heavy bubble wrap (to prevent breaking or spilling), then sealed in a bubble envelope and THEN sealed in a flat rate envelope.  Because my order was over $50 USD, I did have free shipping.  (For the record, Kim offered to ship my eye shadows immediately and then ship the nail polishes to me when they arrived at no extra cost to me, but I told her I could wait for everything.)


Now, I know you see extra colors up there in my eye shadows.  Because I ordered the Road to Nowhere collection, Kim added a brand new color called Polished, a silver that is in the same vein as RtN, and also With A Twist, a lavender that is now being offered since Your Majesty has been discontinued.  She also sneaked in Mermaid's Hair (a light green) which I'm excited to check out.  I was super impressed to see that each one is sealed in plastic with a perforated tab so you know that no product has leaked out or been used before.


I will be swatching these over primer when I get some sun outside so you can see what they look like.  I've been obsessed with pigments for awhile and now I feel like if I blog about them, I can justify the fact that I have so many of them.  Seriously, it's sicking sometimes...


Overall Beauty [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] sells their own line of mineral makeup as well as many other brands to include a-england, BB Couture, Ozotic, piCture pOlish, Cult Nails, Dazzle Dry, Glitter Gal 3D, and much more!

Dr.'s REMEDY Defense

I'm back with some swatches!  Finally, right?  I'm trying to still battle being sick and I've had almost 6 straight days of CLOUDS.  The one day I have sun?  I'm in bed all day sick.  Yep.  Dr.'s REMEDY Defense was from their fall 2011 line and is a "deep red" creme.  Unfortunately, my bottle had leaked in its cap, so I lost like 1/3rd of the polish in leakage.  I cleaned it up with some acetone but couldn't get it all out of the square cap.  As a result, I'm not able to separate the square cap from the round cap inside.


I used a base of Duri Rejuvacoat, 2 coats of polish and a top of CND Air Dry.  The polish itself was like most dark red cremes I've tried - which you'll see below.

Yep, streaky.  It's like the pigment just didn't want to sit right.  Now I'm not sure if this is accurate of this color, or if it has something to do with mine being exposed to the air for so long until the leak dried itself up, sealing the bottle off.

Same here in the shade - you can see that while shiny, this color just didn't really go as opaque - more like a jelly.

Indoors with a flash - I'm a bit torn on this one.  You can sort of see the brush strokes on my ring finger, but is it just me that really sees this?  I'm also just not in love with the color - but that's a personal preference, not something indicative of the brand.


Dr.'s REMEDY [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] Enriched Nail Polish is available for $16 online at http://www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  

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

RUSK at the Golden Globes!

Did you watch the Golden Globes?  I fought it for awhile before I realized that I didn't understand what people were saying on my Twitter timeline anymore, so I decided to finally turn it on... and eventually turned it off.  While most beauty friends of mine were gushing over Zooey Deschanel's Tuxedo Nails (yours truly included), there were many more red carpet beauty finds including Nancy O'Dell's loose bun.  Please enjoy the following "how to" from Rusk!

Image courtesy of Y Public Relations

For a long night of chatting with Hollywood royalty at the Golden Globe Awards, Entertainment Tonight Host Nancy O'Dell needed a chic and elegant hair style that would stay in place.  O'Dell's stylist Heather Haynes opted for a loose bun – an easy-to-create style she suggests for any red carpet wanna-be: 

STEP 1: Haynes began by spraying a generous amount of Rusk's Thick Body and Texture Amplifier throughout Nancy's towel dried hair, with emphasis on the root – particularly at the crown of the head.  

STEP 2: As she blew out Nancy's hair, the thickening spray helped create body and volume.  Haynes blew out the hair in sections, using a round, boar bristle brush and again, paying close attention to the root to emphasize volume.  

STEP 3: Once Nancy's hair was dry, Haynes used a dime sized amount of Rusk's Deepshine Oil – spreading it evenly throughout the hair.  If you suffer from dry or split ends, it's best to use additional oil on the ends – this will condition the hair and eliminate frizz.  

STEP 4: Haynes created a simple side part and swept Nancy's hair into a high, loose pony tail – making sure to leave enough volume at the crown of the head.  She then tucked the loose hair from the pony tail under, securing with bobby pins to create a neat bun.  

Image courtesy of Y Public Relations

STEP 5: For the quick finishing touch – Haynes sprayed a misting of Rusk's Deepshine Oil Finishing Hairspray around the entire look.  This formula is perfect for combatting flyways and frizz that can creep up during a long night on the red carpet.

Image courtesy of Y Public Relations