Review: Colores de Carol Valentine's Trio from Live Love Polish

(Press Sample)

Today I have another exclusive to share with you from Live Love Polish...and OMG, it's gorgeous, and ready-made for nail art.

Colores de Carol has collaborated with Live Love Polish to put together a a Valentine's Day gift set of three polishes, one of them exclusive to Live Love Polish. It comes in this adorable box:

Colores de Carol Valentine's Trio from Live Love Polish

Colores de Carol Valentine's Trio from Live Love Polish

The awesome packaging is absolutely fitting for the awesomeness inside...Let's start with Colores de Carol Amethyst, a medium-to-strong linear holo in a glowing orchid shade:

Colores de Carol Amethyst

Colores de Carol Amethyst

Colores de Carol Amethyst

Colores de Carol Amethyst

Colores de Carol Amethyst

Colores de Carol Amethyst

This polish. THIS POLISH. I absolutely live for it. It's soft. It's squishy, It's vibrant. It's holo. It's wonderful in every possible way.

I've had lots of jelly holos that take 4 coats to reach opacity, and when I first saw this, I wondered if it would be one of those...absolutely not. This is two coats, full coverage, and those coats applied like butter. I had almost zero clean up because control on this was absolute. I have one coat of Seche Vite, but this polish doesn't need it, in terms of amazing shine.



Next up is Jesse's Girl, made exclusively for Live Love Polish, a glitter topper with predominantly pink, red, and purple glitters, and a smattering of blue and yellow-green to keep you on your toes:

Colores de Carol Jesse's Girl over China Glaze Tart-y For The Party

This is one coat over China Glaze Tart-y For The Party, with one coat of Seche Vite. Application was very good--this mostly brushed on evenly, and I only needed one or two teeny dabs to make sure I got coverage everywhere.

Colores de Carol Jesse's Girl over Zoya Sage

This is two coats over Zoya Sage, with two coats of Seche Vite. The polish dries quickly, so I really didn't have to wait between coats--I started on the second as soon as I was done the first. It's also a very versatile polish; I'll show it below over Amethyst. 

Colores de Carol Jesse's Girl over Zoya Sage

And here's a macro so you can see the glitters up close and personal. This polish is like the glitter version of a spring Monet painting, with some holo flash thrown in. :)



And finally we have the oh-so-perfectly-named Bling, a glimmering concoction of silver holographic glitter that looks like a bottle of liquid diamonds:

Colores de Carol Bling

These swatches need a little explanation. This polish covers well enough with two coats that in real life, it looks like full coverage even if you have your fingers right up to your eyes. However, under the lightbox lamp, it looks a little sparser. So what I did here was put three coats on my ring finger so you can see what it looks like IRL, and left the two coats on the other nails. Believe me--you won't need three coats IRL to get the effect you see on the ring finger here. Below, I also show one coat of Bling over Barry M Silver Foil, and over Amethyst, so you can see a range of different looks with this polish. Each have one coat of topcoat.

Application was exceptional. When I look at a polish like this, I drool, and then brace myself for all of the glitter that's going to get onto my cuticles and be a nightmare to clean up. I didn't have that problem at all with this polish. The glitter went where I wanted it to go, and nowhere else. I was careful, of course, but not inordinately so--and often with glitters like this, it doesn't matter how careful you are. But this was a dream to work with.

Colores de Carol Bling

Colores de Carol Bling

Colores de Carol Bling

On my thumb I have one coat of Bling over one coat of Barry M silver foil--I personally prefer Bling on its own, but this is a good option if you want to stretch your mileage.

Colores de Carol Bling

I said at the beginning that this gift set is a nail art waiting to happen--I couldn't resist playing with them a bit and showing them together. First I have one coat of Bling on my ring finger and one coat of Jesse's Girl on my pinky and thumb, over two coats of Amethyst:

Colores de Carol Valentine's Trio Gift Set for Live Love Polish

Colores de Carol Valentine's Trio Gift Set for Live Love Polish

And here's two coats of Bling and Jesse's Girl over Amethyst:

Colores de Carol Valentine's Trio Gift Set for Live Love Polish

Final verdict: This is an amazing set of specialty polishes for the polish addict or the polish beginner alike. This is a perfect gift to give your friend who likes nail polish and nail art, but doesn't quite know where to start--the polishes go beautifully together so you can combine them in so many ways with foolproof results. I still have the above manicure on, and don't want to take it off. It's stunning and light catching and I just want to stroke it and kiss it and hug it and love it.

And yet, any experienced polish collector/nail artist will be over the moon with this set, as well. A top-notch holo, a sparklicious holo glitter, and a versatile glitter topper--how can you go wrong? Even if the 'gift' is for yourself. Especially if the 'gift' s for yourself. :)

If you want to get the special packaging, you should head over there quickly--the sets are already in the 'low stock' category. But, you can also buy each of the polishes separately; just don't count on being able to get all three, because Bling is also low stock.

And don't forget: Live Love Polish has free shipping in the United States if you spend over $20--so guess what, not only do you save money over buying these separately, that means no shipping cost on the set. You can't beat that with a stick.

Happy holographic polishing!!!
M.

Review: Pretty & Polished exclusives at Live Love Polish

(Press Sample)

It's February: Valentine's Day is around the corner, and love is in the air. To help celebrate, Live Love Polish has teamed up with Pretty & Polished to put out an exclusive pair of polishes, perfect for Valentine's Day, and for spring:

Pretty & Polished My Best Invest-Mint and He Makes Me Blush

He Makes Me Blush is a light pink milky polish with a small silver, red, and purple hexes, and matte pink and white heart glitters:

Pretty & Polished He Makes Me Blush

Pretty & Polished He Makes Me Blush

This is two coats of He Makes Me Blush topped with one coat of Seche Vite. The formula was good; it was thin enough that you didn't get lumps and clumps, but not so thin that it ran everywhere. The small glitters spread out well with normal application, I didn't have to fuss at all there. I did have to go on a deep-sea expedition for the heart glitters, but that's pretty standard for any polish that has these kinds of specialty glitters. It doesn't bother me regardless, because I'm pretty picky about how I want things positioned--it's the nail artist in me--and I like the choice of wearing a polish like this without the hearts if I'm not in a heart mood.

This is an adorable polish for Valentine's Day, sweet and romantic. It reminds me of the little pink candy hearts with the words on them; it has a whimsical element to it that I think is fun, and the splashes of red purple keep it from being too much pink all in one place.



My Best Invest-Mint is a light mint crelly with pink, white, and gold circle glitters along with white and pink satin-finished hearts:

Pretty & Polished My Best Invest-Mint

Pretty & Polished My Best Invest-Mint

This is also two coats, with one coat of Seche Vite. Application on this was perfection. The base glitters spread perfectly with regular application, and although I did have to fish for two of the hearts, the rest came out unbidden during regular application--you can see some are buried because they came out during the first coat. Even when I dabbed on the two I had to fish out, the polish spread evenly into the polish I'd already brushed on, without me having to dab and play.

This is my favorite of the two--I think the play of colors here between the satin white and pink and the hint of mint is feminine and flirty without being stereotypically 'Valentine's Day' or too girly. I love this also for an Easter manicure (any spring look), and how perfect is this for a baby shower?! In fact, I was coincidentally supposed to go to a baby shower today, but caught a cold and couldn't make it. But my nails were there in spirit!

Both of these polishes will get and keep you into the spirit of the season. They're exclusive to Live Love Polish; you can't find them anywhere else. So go grab 'em if you like 'em, and don't forget to look around at the rest of their offerings while you're there. They ship internationally, and they have free shipping over $20 in the US! I don't know about you, but there's no way I'm getting out of a polish store for under $20, lol.  :)

Happy Polishing!
M.

Review: Live Love Polish, Seche Coral, & Seche Vite

(Press sample)

Hello!

I have a different type of review for you today...Live Love Polish, an online polish boutique, contacted me to see if I'd be willing to review Seche Vite alone with one of Seche's color polishes, not for Seche per se, but as two of the products their shop offers. So my review is going to have three parts: a review of Seche Vite, one of Seche Coral (the color they sent me) and one of the shop itself.

Live Love Polish won my heart when I found out they carry cruelty-free brands only, from all over the world. I'm impressed by the selection of brands and types they carry, from China Glaze to Colores de Carol, with polishes across the range of standard cremes to specialty polishes like glitters, duochromes, and holos (sigh). They also carry nail care and nail art supplies as well.

Their site is visually pleasant and their interface is very user-friendly--they even tell you when stock is low on a polish, so you know if you need to grab it right NAO or if you can wait a week until payday. Also, the polish descriptions use universal symbols that show which polishes are also vegan-friendly, in addition to being cruelty-free. :)

And: they ship INTERNATIONALLY. For US orders, any order over $20 ship free, and orders under that amount ship for $5 (has anybody ever ordered less than $20 of polish at a time??). For international orders, shipping is a little more but not much. There are some exceptions/limitations, so check that out.


I have to mention quickly how much I loved the way they wrapped the polish; I love touches like this that make opening your nail mail that much more special:

Live Love Polish packaging :)

Seche Vite and Seche Coral

On to the polish! I received Seche Coral to test out, a pink-leaning coral creme polish that flirts with the line of neon:

Seche Coral

Seche Coral

I'm wearing two coats here, with topcoat. The polish itself had a good consistency, but I had a little difficulty with application; there was some patchiness even after two coats. This was certainly not the hardest creme I've ever applied, by far--but it wasn't the easiest either, and you will want to pay attention to make sure it all comes out smooth and sweet.

The polish appears a bit more pink inside; the coral comes out more in the daylight. The color is vibrant; it's not quite neon, so you won't get in trouble at work, but it's not far from it if you're looking for something to bring bright to your day.

I also reviewed Seche Vite, Seche's fast-acting topcoat. Now, there's no secret around these parts that I'm a big fan of Seche Vite, that it's my Holy Grail topcoat. However, you never know, maybe the formula is different now, so I duly tested out the bottle they sent me to make sure nothing has changed since I bought my industrial-sized refill bottle.

I used Seche Vite for the above manicure, and over some nail stamping, and nope, nothing's changed. It's still amazing and is still my ultimate HG. So now I will endeavor to explain to you why, and share some tricks I have for eliminating some of the issues nay-sayers have with it.

• I can apply Seche Vite thirty seconds after I've applied my polish, no pulling, no lines, no problem.

• After 1 minute, I can touch things without worrying about smudges. Or dings.

• After 5 minutes, I don't have to worry about even dents or sheet marks. 

• After 10 minutes, I can even stamp on it, pressing hard with my stamper, and don't have to worry about any rippling. 

• Seche Vite makes even the grittiest polish or glitter shiny and beautiful, with a surface like glass. I haven't found any other topcoat that gorgeous shine.

• Seche Vite causes nearly no smudging over stamping or other nail art, and what smudging it does cause can be avoided (see below). 

All of these things are absolutely critical for me as a nail blogger who has to fit in swatching and nail art between the other things I have to do during my day (you know, work, cooking, cleaning, that stuff). I don't have ages to wait around for everything to dry, while not being able to use my hands. And I think that's true even of people who aren't blogging, but who are just trying to get through their day with the least amount of wasted time as possible.

"But Michelle!" I hear you saying. "There are problems with Seche Vite!"

1) "Seche Vite causes shrinkage!": Not if you have the inside scoop. The trick is understanding why it happens; Seche Vite causes shrinkage if you have too much polish that hasn't fully dried under the topcoat, because the Seche can't penetrate it all equally. For example, if you put on three coats of polish one after the other and then apply Seche Vite, you're gonna get shrinkage. If you put on a glob of polish because you're doing nail art and you're layering, you're gonna get shrinkage. One coat of polish, even two, can be topped with Seche without a problem (unless they're super thick). But if you need more coats of polish and don't want to wait in between them, here's what you do. Apply 1-2 coats of polish, and wait a full minute. Apply a coat of Seche Vite. Wait until this is fully dry, 5-10 minutes. Then, apply your next 1-2 coats, wait a full minute, and put on another coat of Seche Vite. In another 5-10 minutes, your polish will be dry, and you shouldn't have any shrinkage. The longer you wait between steps, the less likely you will be to have shrinkage. And this is still far faster than waiting between coats and using any other type of topcoat.

2) "Seche Vite smudges nail art!": If you're doing free-hand or the like with nail polish or acrylics, give it at least a full minute to dry before applying your Seche. If you're stamping and using a polish that has a high tendency to smudge with any topcoat (like Konad), wait at least 2-3 minutes. When I use Konad Black or White, I wait a full five minutes before applying topcoat, and have found that even that isn't enough unless I'm using Seche--other topcoats will still smudge it even then. And of course, with any topcoat, try to only brush over any given area once.

3) "Seche Vite is not big-five free!": Yup, that one is true, and I don't have a way around it. Personally, it doesn't worry me much. I don't bite my nails and I rarely eat with my fingers, so I think the risk is minimal regardless. Plus, most of my polish is big-five free, so my percentage of those chemicals is much lower, anyway.

At the end of the day, I've tried every other topcoat that has been recommended to me, and Seche Vite wins the race for me, every time. :)

I hope this has been helpful! Don't forget to check out Live Love Polish: great selection, competitive prices, and a top-notch shipping policy. You can also find them on Facebook and on Instagram @live.love.polish.

Hope everyone's week is going well!
M.