Things are looking up!  My last doctor visit went well and my fluid levels are where they are supposed to be.  So long as this continues I should be able to safely carry this baby to term!  As of today that only makes 3 weeks to go, anyhow...  I'm fine with her waiting until then to come out, haha.  =)

   So, this month... kind of made up for buying so little earlier in the year...  Some things were gifts though, too!  And pretty much everything else in this picture was on sale.

   Usually I would have a bunch of pictures and list off everything that I accumulated, but I'm not doing that this time.  (Combine a busy week & weekend with the exhaustion of pregnancy...)  Instead I'll leave links to what I've already shown on my blog!

   I've already tested more of what you see here... tune in next week for Nyx swatches and more Laquerlicious eye candy!  I think I want to try out the nail decals or foil sheets I found next...

Swatch & Review

   I have several polishes to share today, princesses!  Prepare your eyes for a feast of sparkly goodness!  If you were a fan of the jelly-with-holographic-microshards beauties Aurora, Blaze and Storm that Zoya released you will like these, too!  I couldn't resist trying these new L.A. Girl polishes, and seeing how they compare...

From left to right: L.A Girl 3D Silver, Teal Dimension, Brilliant Blue, Sparkle Ruby, and Dazzling Pink

   The 3D Effect collection has 3 more polishes that I did not pick up: Electric Coral (I'm not really a coral-wearing girl), Purple Effect (looks like an exact dupe of Zoya Aurora, which I already own), and Black Illusion (a dupe for Zoya Storm, again I already own that polish).  All of them include the same silver holographic microshard glitter in a jelly base, except for 3D Silver, which is a clear-based glitter.  On to the swatches!

Top to bottom: Teal Dimension, Brilliant Blue, Sparkle Ruby, Dazzling Pink

Teal Dimension 

   I used 2 coats, no topcoat.  This is a true, deep teal color.  It reminds me of jewels and peacock feathers!  The jelly coverage is fantastic while still being sheer enough to show off a lot of holographic sparkle.  Very beautiful and a great color for heading into fall and winter.

Brilliant Blue 

   I used 2 coats, no topcoat.  Deep sapphire blue.  It brings to mind the night sky or ocean depths.  Not normally a color I would grab but the finish and look of this is irresistible!  It should be perfect as a base for nail art or sponged into a galaxy manicure.  I think the darker jelly base gives an illusion of less or smaller pinpricks glitters.

Sparkle Ruby 

   I used 2 coats, no topcoat.  Deep burgundy-red.  I absolutely love this color and was really surprised not to find any swatches of it while picking colors to buy from this collection!  The darker base makes it look less glitter-packed, but it sparkles beautifully.  And yes, Sparkle Ruby seems to be an exact dupe for Zoya Blaze!

Dazzling Pink 

   I used 2 coats, no topcoat.  Fun, flamingo-ish, warm toned pink.  This color was the most sheer and could probably use 3 coats.  It really shows the glitter!  I was on the fence about ordering this color because I'm picky about pinks, and sadly I don't think this one is the right shade for me.

L.A. Girl 3D Silver, 2 coats alone and 1 coat over black

3D Silver 

  Again, no topcoat used.  If you love the glitter but don't like any of the colors in this collection, this would be the polish to get.  It isn't going to have quite the same depth as the jelly-based colors, but it layers over any color to create an effect that looks the same from arm's-length away.  This is definitely a topper, I imagine it would take 5 coats to try to get the glitter opaque by itself.

   I'm going to talk about formula now because these all had the same formula!  In most reviews I found the swatcher said the polishes were thick, but that was not the case for me.  They aren't thin and runny, but they are very easy to use.  I didn't have any issues with pooling, dragging, or glitter being uneven.  Also, they dried fast.  I didn't use topcoat because they dried to a perfectly smooth, glassy finish all on their own.  Durability was good; I only had minor tip wear after a full workday.  Removal was a breeze, as well.  In my opinion these are all real winners.

   As for the glitter particles themselves, they are fantastic.  The fact that they are tiny irregular shapes makes the polishes interesting and unique.  The rainbow sparkle is hard to capture in photographs, so please believe me when I say it is there!  And in some lighting these polishes give a very faint linear holographic effect.  Otherwise I would classify these as scattered holo nail polishes.

   While this collection may not be L.A. Girl's most original batch of creations, it worth noticing.  If you were left wanting more by Zoya's holographic jellies last year, take a look at these.  (Don't bother buying repeats of the identical colors, though.)  If you like delicate sparkly toppers, pick up 3D Silver.  If you like solid-performing polishes that can be found for $5 a bottle or less, definitely hunt these down!  Here is the official webpage for this 8-polish collection.  I hope you found my swatches helpful.  =)

   Ever come up with something that you know is really pretty but you're just not sure if you love it on yourself?  That's how it is for me with this mani.  It looks beautiful, but I just wasn't feeling it the way I thought I would.  At any rate, here are what I call my "deep sea mermaid" nails:

   Gorgeous, right?  That is two coats of LA Girl Deep Sea Mica topped with one coat of Zoya Charla.  There are a few more pictures after the jump, including Deep Sea Mica by itself.

   Yes, another haul post today, with items from two different places.  Some goodies came from CherryCulture, and a couple polishes were found in a store locally.  It just got me thinking about the differences between shopping Online and In-store, especially when it comes to little colorful things like this.  Here is some discussion!

   I think we all prefer to see things in person, hold them in our hand and put them up to our skin or favorite shirt to make sure they match correctly.  But there is a sort of thrill that goes along with picking items out Online and being surprised when you receive them.  Sure there will be some letdowns and the inevitable pair of shoes that just don't fit, but generally I'm happy with my purchases.

   Then on one hand it's nice to find something and have it right away - sometimes you need it right away.  But I don't think I'm the only one who looks forward to getting a package in the mail later on.  It's like a present sent to yourself.  I think it is a lot of fun to unwrap things, and watch this...

   Go to this:

   Alright, fine, onto the haul goodies!

   I placed an order with CherryCulture today...  I just love that site...  They have some of my favorite brands at really good prices!  Anyway, it made me realize that I never posted my last haul from them!  These beauties arrived at the beginning of the month~

Milani In a Flash, L.A. Girl Glitter Addict - Uninhibited, Nyx Blue Avenue & Purple Avenue.

   The Beige & Creme Glitter polishes weren't what I was looking for, but yes, they are metallic flakies!  I swatched them and put them up for sale on my blog sale page.  I'm working on a post of Nyx swatches so keep an eye out for that if you're curious about how they look.  Now onto the Nyx Girls nail polish.  I was so impressed with the glitters I picked up that I had to try some cremes, too.

Nyx Girls Algae, Hot Blue, Between Mauve and Purple, Forever 1989, Dark Beige, Girly

Nyx Girls Perfect Gray, Heather, Dusty Pink, Pistachio, Naked Pink, Gemma

   I'm enjoying another Glitrix polish today.  The color is called Oceanic, and it is a blue jelly franken with small blue glitter and silver bar glitter.  This is my second time wearing it and I have to say I just love it!  Have a bit of cute bottle picspam!

      I have some nail wheel swatches of this one, as well, as it is really good for layering.  Oceanic dries to a gorgeous glassy shine and the glitter isn't gritty at all.  My photos show it without top coat, but I do like to add one to enhance the smooth shine even more.

   Left to right: 1 coat of Oceanic over China Glaze Caribbean Blue, 2 coats over L.A. Girl Alkaline Blue, 1 coat over L.A. Girl Alkaline Blue, 1 coat alone, 2 coats alone, 3 coats alone.

   Personally I would be wearing this layered - the jelly base stays sheer even though it is streak free at two coats.  When you're putting it over another polish you only need one coat for good glitter coverage, two if you want more glitters or more depth.  Bar glitters are unpredictable in polish and you occasionally have to fish them out of the bottle.  The brushes in the star bottles have clear hairs so it is really easy to see how many you've caught!

   Glitrix Oceanic is a great color because the glitter pops over any base color.  Over something dark the blue glitter is light enough to pop in a very striking way.  The glitter settles in the bottle and I find the easiest way to mix it is to put it on it's side and keep flipping it over, give it a shake, stand it up and you're good to go.  After painting a few nails shake it again to make sure you're still getting the bar glitters you want.  This polish applies wonderfully and dries pretty quick.  The jelly base color will tint whatever you put it over, in my case of using it over Layla Metallic Sky it brightened the polish to the exact shade of blue I was hoping for!

   I love it over my magnetic polish with line designs like waves.  Doesn't the glitter remind you of little fish swimming through bubbles?  I have to say that if you're planning to place an order for Glitrix polish, which you can buy here on etsy, don't pass this color up!  It is a real gem.  =)  Who can resist something so sparkly?!

   When I bought my new L.A. Girl Supernova nail polish I intended to wear it over black, but never had time to put it over my black weekend nails.  I swiped it over one nail later to see what kind of coverage it had.  Besides being a really pretty glitter, it reminded me of rain (probably because we just had a huge rainstorm..).  So I created this little mani instead!

   My base color was China Glaze Caribbean Blue, which is a lovely glass-fleck filled color.  Here it is alone, and before clean-up:


   Then I used L.A. Girl Supernova - one coat over all nails.  This is prismatic string/bar glitter floating in a grey base.  It worked to dull the Caribbean Blue, though it looked a little streaky in spots where I dabbed on extra glitter.  The sky gets a sort of mottled look during rain anyway, though, so it's all good.  I made my stormclouds using China Glaze Pelican Gray, the polish has a bit of shimmer too it and is the perfect color for rainclouds!  Here is my right hand, which had no faces:


   It was easiest to use the nail polish brush to create the clouds, and touch them up with a dotting tool where needed.  The faces were made by first dotting my Pure Ice Pink Ice polish to make blushing cheeks, and then I used a small dotting tool to add eyes, and then small mouths with Wet 'n Wild Ink Well.

   I thought I waited long enough to seal it with top coat but sadly the black polish was pulled and ran a little.  =(  And my pinky cloud looks more "hmph!" than happy, but oh well.  They are cute anyway.  So yes, this mani was easy to make and needed no fancy tools.  Who knew that bar glitter is like rain in a bottle?!  Supernova is super blingy and fun to wear, and removes easily.  Also, after a full day of wearing I have zero tip wear!

   ...And that's just what I bought for myself.  Well, okay, maybe I'll do some sharing.  ;)  I have to start by saying that I absolutely looove CherryCulture.com and I'm always snagging pretty colors for myself and Mom through their store.  Generally my hauls are centered on pigments and glosses, maybe a few nail polishes.. but this time was different.  I was so impressed with the few Nyx Girls polishes that I picked up a few more, and the same story for L.A. Girl, too.  Well, enough of my gabbing, let me just show you!

   The L.A. Colors mini sets.  Top Row: Glitter 126 and Glitter 124.  Bottom Row: Bright 123 and Bright 125.  Yes, they really are that creative with their collection names.  These polishes are unnamed but I believe they are just smaller versions of polishes in their regular lines.  I was interested in this brand because of their 3-free formula and that they are very obviously animal-cruelty free - they have the little heart-ear buns right on the bottles!

   Wow, this polish is amazing in the sunlight!  I wish I had been able to get better pictures of it than just these with flash, but I have the feeling that this color would be impossible to capture in it's full glory.  Here is L.A. Girl Metal / Metallic Nail Polish in Pink Steel:

   This pink foil polish is amazing - As you can see in the bottle it's silver foil pigment swimming in pink, and it translates wonderfully on the nail.  "Pink Steel" is a very apt name for it, and this is one of the most metallic nail polishes I own.  My pictures here are with two coats, but it is very opaque even at 1 coat.  (My toes are enjoying 1 coat right now and they look fabulous!)  Also, I did not put a top coat over this.

   By way of review I can say that the formula is easy to work with.  Starts to dry quickly but if you nick it while tacky there is no hope of it self-leveling.  Super pigmented and very metallic - in a word it is vibrant.  It is not glossy when dry, but has a high-sparkle shine that is appealing.  Retailing for about $2.50 I say it's totally worth owning!  I also have Chromium Green from this collection on my toes, it is just as good - just a nice green instead!   The LA Girl Metal collection has other shades available in this foil finish as well, I picked out a few of my favorites and I'll be sure to wear & share!

   I'm currently rocking this totally awesome manicure that appeals to my love of black nail polish and cutesy, girly things.  I used my new L.A Girl polish from their Rock Star Nail Lacquer collection.  The color?  Rockstar.  It is a black polish with a jelly-ish quality that is loaded with purple micro-flake shimmer that flashes green in the bottle.  I have only seen purple show on my nails, but it's gorgeous and I love it anyway.

   In fact I love it so much that I took a ton of pictures of it, which you can click to see larger.  =)

   Besides grabbing a totally awesome nail polish to give away here, I did buy myself some goodies which I have been tearing into over the past few days.  You can click this picture to see it larger:

   Milani 3D Holographic polishes in HD, Hi-Tech, Hi-Res, Digital, and Cyberspace.  Nyx Girls polishes in Frizz Spots, Dynamic Glitter, and Dreamy Glitter.  La Girl polishes in Rockstar, Chromium Green, and Pink Steel.  And Nyx Single Eyeshadows in Dark Gray, Jazzy Pink, Dark Brown, and Black.

   I could not resist the Milani polishes.  This is a brand that I have not found in stores locally yet.  After missing out on them in a giveaway (which reminded me of their existence) I just went ahead and bought them - totally worth it!  The Nyx polishes have more expensive dupes right within the same brand.  I have no clue if it's worth springing for the Salon Formula...  I just went with these little cuties.  LA Girl Rockstar is an awesome black polish with tiny purple-to-green flakies in it. The other two La Girls are foil colors!  The single eyeshadows are all matte.  Jazzy Pink is constantly sold out and I was so happy to finally snag it.  I grabbed the neutrals to use as eyeliner for the most part.

   Besides sharing these pretties with all of you, I share their use with my family.  My grandmother is in constant benefit of my stash of nail polish, and when my Mom saw these she tried on a few colors.  Really, I prefer it that way!  A bottle of polish lasts me quite awhile and I feel better knowing they will all get used...  So long as no one has nail rot I'm cool with sharing.  Anyone else have the same policy?