Year of the Dragon by Pure Ice

So the Year of the Dragon pairing by Pure Ice is a gold metallic nail polish and a bright, crisp red crackle polish topper. I had never, for whatever reason, thought to pair these two together and I have to say, I just love the result.
The gold metallic polish is a very warm gold, almost has that "old gold" feel. I adore it - surprising for me, I don't usually care for gold, but this one is right up my alley. It reminds me a bit of Misa Ghetto Fabulous. I only needed two coats for this - I probably could have done one, it was really well pigmented.

I decided to use the red crackle, Show Stopper, in a diagonal pattern. This is a fun change up for me, I really like the look of it done in this direction. I had a mishap with my ring finger and the door, so I had to go over that spot again - forgive me if it looks a bit lumpy, but that's my fault and not the fault of the crackle. Like many crackle polishes, this dries to a matte finish. I added glossy top coat to all of my fingers but my pinkie, because I wanted to show you guys the texture of the matte - I actually like that contrast against the metallic of the gold. Pretty neat!

I know that many of us are burnt out on crackle, but when I wore this I got a TON of compliments on it, and I myself really loved the look of it. The combination of color and texture to me was really pretty and I haven't worn crackle in so long, I think I just enjoyed it. What do you guys think of this?

Disclaimer: Product(s) in this post provided in return for an honest review.

Duri Red Carpet Collection

Okay, I have finally finished up editing photos of the nine polishes in Duri's Red Carpet Collection - this is going to be a bit long! I'll just go ahead and jump right in with photos and details.
As I suspected, Addicted To Fame, the orange I saw in the press release is hot! It's a bright orange loaded with gold shimmer and would look great in the summer as a pedi. I used two coats here for opacity.

Behind The Scenes is a deep vampy reddish toned purple. It looks a bit dark here in the low light photo, but trust me, you can still tell it's purple. Perfect opacity, I could almost have done one coat here.

Celebrity Scandal is a silver foil. It's very fine, though - it could almost be considered a chrome, since it's not very textured! Gorgeous. We have proof here that you need to baby these bad boys when you're applying, because I must have had SOMETHING on my middle finger that didn't agree with the polish! It shows right up on these metallics. If you don't have a nice silver foil, this is a good one - the application was easy, it dried in a snap, and any brush strokes disappear when it's dry. I love that!

Fashion Police is a gorgeous, gorgeous cornflower blue jelly with strong silver shimmer. It's more sheer than the other polishes, but that's to be expected since it's a jelly. I used three coats here. This is as gorgeous as I thought it was going to be from the press release!

Limo Ride is probably my only nemesis in this whole collection. Colors like this are just not me, it might be pretty on summer toes as one of my lovely twitter followers suggested, or topped with a darker stamped polish? It's a copper frost/pearl (maybe someone can identify, I can never QUITE tell the difference) that shows up brushstrokes pretty easily. I used two coats here.

Okay, we've come to the surprise of the collection, for me. Oscar Party is a bright, celery green shimmer. I had to do several photos for you guys and I'm going to ask you to click to enlarge these - it's a duochrome! It shifts from that celery green to a strong orange gold - stunning! I cannot get over how cool this is. I used three coats here, it's a little bit thin. This is going to be hot in the summer especially on your toes.

Whew, that was cool, huh? This next one is Paparazzi, an emerald green shimmer. I don't think I have a polish quite this shade and it is VERY pretty. Two coats here.

Tabloid Rumors is a very nice dark charcoal gray shimmer. Two coats here.

And last, but definitely not least: VIP Lounge. This bright red stole my heart - I don't even like bright reds and I fell head over heels for it! This has more of a berry/blue undertone so that's probably why I like it so much. Two coats here.

So, that's a pretty well rounded collection, huh? My favorites are VIP Lounge, Fashion Police, and Oscar Party, but I think it's a very good collection. What are your favorites?

Disclaimer: Product(s) featured in this post were provided by the PR company in return for an honest review.

China Glaze Phat Santa and Finger Paints Sparkle Top Coat

Just a quickie layering post today! China Glaze Phat Santa is probably my favorite holiday red, it's a bit dark and blue toned, so I think it's really a sexy red and makes a great base for layering or glitter gradients. I'd call it a jelly creme, it's very pigmented but it's super shiny and squishy, too.
I just popped last year's Finger Paints Sparkle Top Coat on top of this, and it's so pretty and festive looking! It's a sheer, milky base with multicolored, fine pastel sparkles.

Last shot in direct sunlight so you can see the bling - wow that's an awkward pose. Oh well *sigh* I only took two more in direct sunlight, and they were not as clear as this one, so this is what we have. The Finger Paints reminds me a bit of a smaller glitter Snow Globe, yes/no??

OPI All The Berry Best and Gift Of Gold

These two lovelies, All The Berry Best and Gift of Gold, are from last year's Ulta holiday exclusive set. I am big on the accent nail, and Gift of Gold is too thick for a gradient, anyway! You could probably thin it down, but I quite like it on its own on my ring finger with the pretty All The Berry Best as the backdrop.
All The Berry Best is, as advertised, a berry red shimmer - very pretty and glowy, and the shimmer is a subtle gold that only really comes out to flash in direct sunlight. Very pigmented, I only needed two coats.
As I mentioned, Gift of Gold is a pretty thick, well packed glitter, I only needed two coats for complete coverage. It's a fine gold glitter with bits of silver and red as well - it's really quite gorgeous and blingy!

Wow, look at that gold shimmer coming out to play in direct sunlight! So pretty. I really like this combination.

Happy Christmas Eve!

I hope you guys are having a wonderful holiday, wherever you are! We are getting ready for our Christmas Eve celebrations, lots of baking and cooking going on today - my Daddy is going to finally teach me how to make his famous spaghetti, which we have on Christmas as a break to all the turkey we eat during the holidays. Mom's already made her pumpkin bread, I've made the snickerdoodles, hubby and my daughter are making sugar cookies too! Nomnomnom. Tony has also made his famous sausage balls - I swear I could turn INTO a sausage ball, I love those things. We'll be opening presents tonight, following my dad's Christmas traditions from his family. What are your holiday traditions?
Today I'm wearing a festive combo - I've got a beautiful pine green jelly from my friend Tuli in Israel, it's Jade Emerald. I love it so much! I used Color Club Art of Seduction as an accent nail - I just love that glitter set so much, and the red and green from it are so festive. Lots to do so I'll leave you with the photos - I used three coats of each polish and I've a full on sunlight shot for a little bling!

I got bubbles on my pinkie finger! Oopsie, I'm sure that was from rushing around. I could have put some flakies on the green jelly and made it even more festive. Have a wonderful evening!

Finger Paints Mulberry Madness

This is another pretty from last year's holiday offerings from Finger Paints - Mulberry Madness. I think the name is appropriate because it is a mulberry shade of red glitter, with fine silver glitter scattered throughout the mix. This dries to a bit of a matte shade, so I've slapped a bit of top coat on it to show you its full potential.
Really, this is so pretty and festive. I just love this. I used two coats here and after a year in my position it had thickened up a bit, so I ended up using a bit of thinner on it before I used it. It does dry a bit gritty, but I could have lived with that, it's not bad at all on the grit scale in comparison to other glitters!
I've included a bright sunlight shot so you can see how sparkly and shiny it is.

Oooooh, ahh! I love this.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DADDY! I love you.

Focus On Holographic: Glitter Gal Red 3D

Okay, everyone stoked? I think this is one of my most requested Focus On weeks, and what more perfect month than December to do a Focus On Holo, right? The blingier the better for this month.
Up first is a lovely holographic nail polish from the Glitter Gal family, Red 3D. Kim of Overall Beauty popped this one in my latest package to see what I would think of it - and big surprise, I adore it! I'm sure you guys all know who Kim is, she sells BB Couture nail polish on Overall Beauty - well now, she's not only selling that, but Glitter Gal, Cult Nails, and Ozotic Pro! To top it off, she ships internationally.
Anyway, on to my review of this polish. Red 3D is a linear holographic, and it looks like a rainbow on my nails! It was hard to capture all the colors flashing in the rainbow, but I did give it a good try. I had some nice sun for holo week, so I did my best here. Red 3D is like a raspberry toned red, so it's a tiny bit pink. You rarely see a strong red holo, so this was a nice surprise! I ended up using three coats here for coverage, but had absolutely NO trouble with formula. There was no balding or pulling at all - one of the best holo formulas I've ever used. Later on in the week I'll be showing you both a Nfu Oh holo and the spectacular Gosh Holographic, and both of those have a formula that requires a lot of babying - Glitter Gal does NOT! You don't need any special basecoat, or anything with these. Enough yapping, let's look at the pretty pictures.

Wow, is that hot or what? I encourage you to click to enlarge and get a better look at that rainbow. *hands around drool towels* What a good start to the Focus On Holo series, eh?

Disclaimer: Product(s) in this post were sent to me in return for an honest review.

Layering: China Glaze Velvet Bow and Barielle Elle's Spell

I really picked up quite a lot of polishes from this year's China Glaze holiday collection, so I'm working my way through them. I actually almost skipped Velvet Bow, thinking I really didn't need another red - but I kept looking at swatches of it and ended up going back for it! I love it, I think it's perfectly named as it's the very picture of a velvet red, nice and deep and rich. This is what I'd call a jelly creme - it's glossy and a bit squishy like a jelly, but has the opacity of a creme, so I only needed two coats.
I have yet to layer Barielle Elle's Spell over a purple, which looks fantastic, but I thought I'd try it over the vampy Velvet Bow and this is definitely a winning combination. I actually quite like Elle's Spell on its own - this actually came out in last year's holiday collection, and it's a sheer jelly red packed with flakies. I think I wore it with three coats on its own, but it's so pretty layered. I used one coat here.

Velvet Bow is pretty on its own, but it really makes a perfect layering polish, no? It would look really festive with a gold gradient, also.

China Glaze Cheers to You and Ring In The Red

So I decided to do a truly holiday-esque mani with this combination! I used Cheers To You, which is a perfect silver foil from last year's holiday collection, for all of my fingers except the ring finger. Then I used Ring In The Red from this year's China Glaze holiday collection as my accent nail. So, so perfect together! Ring In The Red is what I would consider to be a sister to the very famous Ruby Slippers. It's a red jelly base, with multiple sized red glitters that absolutely glows on the nail. I got this opaque in three coats, surprisingly - I thought it would be more sheer, but I'm pleased that it covered well in three coats. Cheers To You is a perfectly well behaved foil that self levels and I only needed two coats to get complete coverage.

Clicky to enlarge if you want a better look at how yummy Ring In The Red is, I really like it! I ended up with a lot more of this China Glaze collection than I thought I would, so you'll be seeing me using these up soon. It's a good collection!

Color Club Red-ical Gypsy

You know what? I didn't have a single berry red in my collection until I got Color Club Red-ical Gypsy. I actually love berry shades - I don't really like reds, because I don't think they look very flattering on me, generally speaking, but berries seem to go well against my skin tone.
This is a nice one - it's a jelly creme, with great opacity. I used two coats, but it maintains the high gloss and squishy feel of a jelly. It's not unique, I'm sure - but Color Club does great with these kinds of staple shades, and this is no exception. The application was so nice, also.

Just such a pretty shade. This is of course from the fall Back to Boho collection.

Rimmel Lava Red

This polish comes to me via the always amazing Rie of Nails and Noms. (Seriously, if you aren't following her, WHY?) Apparently Rimmel has decided to discontinue several polishes from their newest line of polishes, the Lasting Finish Pro line - for instance, I think Marine Blue was one that got the ax? Anyway, I nabbed a bunch of the ones I saw on clearance, but I'd never had Lava Red, and I couldn't find it in my area, so Rie picked up a bottle for me. We share a love of blackened, glowy reds.
Seriously, I'm not overly fond of red. I like it better than pink, but I have never been able to resist a good glowy vampy red. Lava Red certainly fits that bill, have a look at the photos. I'm swooning over it! SO sexy.
I wish they hadn't switched brushes when they made the new line, they remind me a bit of the SH Insta-Dri ones I despise, but they're a little easier to use. They are stumpy and oddly shaped, but I find them a bit easier to control. The pigmentation on this was great though - only two coats here.
I took this out in sunlight so you could see it in all its glory. However, please note the last shot, which is a bottle shot - you can see the blackened edges, and the glowy middle. It looks like this most of the time. In very low light it can look pretty darned dark.

Thank you Rie, for sharing the love! I do adore this, it's so perfect.
Edited to add: Thanks to reader Kim, she has said that Confetti Masquerade Ball is a dead on dupe! So if you can't find this, look for the Confetti.

Focus On Black: Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers

When I got this, there weren't dupes for this sexy beast. NYX hadn't come out with Dorothy and for sure, those On The Prowl polishes weren't out yet. I STILL haven't seen them here! I kept staring and drooling over swatches. Go figure I'd love this - I mentioned that I love the combination of red and black!
Obviously, this is a black jelly base, with red larger hex glitter and smaller red square glitter. I used three coats in this swatch set to achieve this level of opacity.

Ruby Red Slippers absolutely sparks fire in the sunlight - it's a stunner!
I am done inundating you with black-based polishes for this month's Focus On. I'll be posting up a poll for the next one in the next day or two! I hope you enjoyed this - now it's time to move on to Halloween polishes. YUS.

Focus On Black: Milani Garnet Gems

We're still floating through this month's Focus On series! Milani Garnet Gems is basically a dead on dupe for China Glaze Lubu Heels. The only difference I can see is minute - Lubu Heels is just a bit more jelly. This just means I have to use more coats of Lubu Heels, but the glitter seems to float more in that than in Garnet Gems. If you're not picky about this, you don't need both.
So, as I've said, this is a bit more opaque than Lubu Heels - what you see here is two coats of Garnet Gems. It's still pretty jelly and you can nicely see the red glowing through the black base. I've got to tell you, this type of polish is what started my whole obsession in the first place. I think there's nothing sexier than black paired with a glowy red, and put it all in one polish? Heaven! Garnet Gems was easy to handle, also. No dripping or flooding my cuticles. *sigh of relief* Cleaning up after black polish is such a pain. Clicky click to enlarge!

GRATUITOUS BOTTLE SHOT!

Yup, sexy beast.