Black Friday special: Stella Chroma's Constellations Trio

(Press samples ahead!)

Hello!


I'm back with one final trio from Stella Chroma that will go on sale this Black Friday: The Constellations Trio, which is a gorgeous set of multichrome magnetic flakie polishes--and if it has multichrome and flakies, I'm IN.

All of these polishes are black-jelly based, and so can be either worn alone (opaque in 2-3 coats), or can be worn with just 1-2 coats over undies. I'll do a comparison of those two methods with the last polish so you can see both options.


Let's jump in with Stella Chroma Gemini, which is a black jelly magnetic polish with flakies that shift green-gold-red, or, in my opinion, olive-gold-rust:

Stella Chroma Gemini

Stella Chroma Gemini

Stella Chroma Gemini

Stella Chroma Gemini

Stella Chroma Gemini

Coverage: 2-3 coats; I'm wearing two in these pictures.
Formula: Excellent formula and application.
Other issues: Great dry time, easy-as-pie removal.

I was interested to see how a black-jelly based multichrome would perform as a magnetic; as with most multichromes, in some lights you get mostly one color, but in other lights you'll get a completely different color--but, you'll see that color shift within the area that your magnet has highlighted, which is very, very cool.

Gemini has a tiger's-eye feel that I love--I've always been partial to that gemstone and this really reminds me of it. I love the olive-rust-gold interplay, especially this time of year it makes me think of renaissance Christmas tapestries.


Next up is Stella Chroma Perseus, a black jelly with gold-red-violet shifting magnetic flakies:

Stella Chroma Perseus

Stella Chroma Perseus

Stella Chroma Perseus

Stella Chroma Perseus

Stella Chroma Perseus

Stella Chroma Perseus

Coverage: 2-3 coats; I'm wearing two in these pictures.
Formula: Excellent formula and application.
Other issues: Great dry time, easy-as-pie removal.

I included a picture in this batch that shows the polish in light that highlights the main color, to show you that the magnetic slash is really there and forms well--when the duochrome hits, the camera shows the awesome color shift but doesn't differentiate the magnetic shift as much.

This makes me think of a gilded vineyard--I don't know what that even is, but this polish looks like it. Gorgeous deep green vines with deep violet grapes, dusted with sprinkles of gold. So pretty any time of year, but so festive for the holidays!


Next we have Stella Chroma Orion, a black-jelly polish with violet-blue-green (amethyst-sapphire-emerald) shifting magnetic flakes:

Stella Chroma Orion

Stella Chroma Orion

Stella Chroma Orion

Stella Chroma Orion

Stella Chroma Orion

Stella Chroma Orion

Coverage: 2-3 coats; I'm wearing two in these pictures.
Formula: Excellent formula and application.
Other issues: Great dry time, easy-as-pie removal.

I love all three of these polishes hard-core, but this one is my favorite. These colors are so differentiated, they're like gemstones dancing on your nails, or like the most amazing little universes! I love staring at the polish, and I love staring at these pictures. Love, love, LOVE.


Okay, so I also want to show you the difference when you put this over undies. For this I only used one coat of Orion over a black base:

Stella Chroma Orion over undies

Stella Chroma Orion over undies

Stella Chroma Orion over undies

Stella Chroma Orion over undies

As you can see, just one coat still gives a strong magnetic effect. The plus of putting the polish over undies is that the magnetic effect is sharper--and, of course, your bottle of gorgeous polish lasts longer (and I'm not gonna lie, I'm cheap economical like that). But, wearing the polish on its own gives a more saturated magnetic effect with more depth, one that's more spread out over the nail. So it's really about which look you prefer.


This trio will be available in Stella Chroma's store on Black Friday at noon EST; you can purchase each separately for $13 or the set for $36, through December 7th. And, from Black Friday--Cyber Monday, she's offering free domestic shipping with any purchase of $25 or more--no code required. She'll also give a free upgrade to domestic priority shipping from Dec. 14-19, since the 19th is the last day to ship in time for Christmas.


And a portion of the proceeds of all the polishes that Stella Chroma sells during the last quarter of 2018 will be donated to GirlStart, a non-profit based in Austin, Texas that helps young girls develop interests in STEM.


And in the meantime, you can find Stella Chroma all over the interwebs:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STELLACHROMA/

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stellachromatics/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stellachroma/

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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Beautometry's My Mani Box: Unboxing And Review!

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)

Hello!


So, I have to admit...I love subscription box services. I've belonged to a few, and I love getting a little box of surprises each month that makes me feel like I have a little piece of Christmas all year long.


If you haven't heard of it, Beautometry has a monthly subscription box they call "My Mani Box", designed for nail stampers that gathers goodies from all around the world according to a different theme every month. And, they recently sent me two boxes to evaluate. So today we're going to take a look at the May box, which has a dinosaur theme, and see what we see.

Beautometry's May My Mani Box

First up--a gorgeous multichrome magnetic flakie polish, Ms. Sparkle Fallen Kingdom:

Ms. Sparkle Fallen Kingdom

Ms. Sparkle Fallen Kingdom

Here's what it looks like on--I applied the magnet at the top of my nails, diagonally:

Ms. Sparkle Fallen Kingdom

Ms. Sparkle Fallen Kingdom

Oh, my, gosh--this polish is amazing! Even without using the magnet on it, it's stunning, but then when you add the magnet--just wow.


The box also included a pot of dried flowers and leaves:

Dried flowers/leaves from Beautometry's May Mani Box

And this box came with THREE plates!

MoYou London Mother Nature Collection 18

MoYou London Mother Nature Collection 19

Clear Jelly Stamper LC-36

So, to sum up, here's what you get:

Beautometry's May My Mani Box

Okay, before I show you the manis I did with this, let's talk about whether or not I think this is a good value. If you buy only a single box, the cost is $35, plus $5 shipping. If you sign up for more than one box, the price goes down depending on how many months you sign up for. So, let's assume that we're looking at the most expensive version of this, $35. I'm not going to count the shipping, because you'd have to pay the shipping if you bought the items anywhere. So, let's do a tally:

2 MoYou London plates = $19.98
Clear Jelly Stamper plate = $14.50
Ms. Sparkle magnetic polish = $9.75 (Probably more than this because it's a specialty polish)
Magnet = $8.00
Dried flowers = $0.50 (I couldn't find single pots, but I found 12 pots for $10, so I rounded down)
Total value: $52.73

So, yes, I'd say this is a very good value for the money--especially since the products, like MoYou London plates, are top-notch quality. Of course, you don't get to pick your items, so you risk getting something that you don't like. But, I think what that comes down to is whether the experience of getting a box full of surprises is something you enjoy--if so, that more than makes up for the risk. If you're not, these sorts of curated boxes probably aren't the best way to go. :)


So, on to the manis! For my first mani, I started with Ms. Sparkle Fallen Kingdom, and stamped images from MoYou London Mother Nature 19. I stamped with Messy Mansion Soft Gold:

Mani made with Beautometry's May "My Mani Box"

Mani made with Beautometry's May "My Mani Box"

For my second mani, I wanted something simple. I started with a base of Zoya Alyssa, and then stamped an image from MoYou London Mother Nature 18 with Hit The Bottle Polish Holo There Beautiful:

MoYou London Mother Nature 18 over Zoya Alyssa, stamped with Hit The Bottle Holo There Beautiful

MoYou London Mother Nature 18 over Zoya Alyssa, stamped with Hit The Bottle Holo There Beautiful

For my final mani, I started again with Ms. Sparkle Fallen Kingdom. Then I used Clear Jelly Stamper LC-36 to stamp images, with Messy Mansion Sterling and Hit The Bottle Polish It Mossed Be Love:

Mani made with Beautometry's May "My Mani Box"

Mani made with Beautometry's May "My Mani Box"

I have to admit...I've been admiring that dinosaur plate for a while, so I had a blast making a pterodactyl manicure. :)

You can find Beautometry's My Mani Box here, and you can follow Beautometry around the interwebs here:

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/119197305341275/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Beautometry/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautometry/

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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Review: China Glaze Magnetix II Collection

Hello!!

My China Glaze Magnetix II Collection arrived today, so I'm finally able to post a review and some skittle swatches for you. Especially because of the top-coat trick I just learned about magnetic polishes, I was really excited to get this collection, so I can play play PLAY!!

I'm going to start with pictures of the bottles and the magnet, then go through the collection color by color. I'll finish up with a comparison of the final color to one from the earlier collection. 

Here are the colors in the bottle:

Bond-Tastic and Sparks Will Fly

Con-Fused and Gold Fusion

Positively In Love and Get Charged

Magnetix II magnet and package

Okay, here we go with the colors:

Look at how pretty and bright they are!! In both the previous pictures I have the following, all with two coats and no top-coat

Pinkie: Positively In Love with circle magnet
Ring: Con-Fused? with Stripe magnet
Middle: Bond-Tastic with squares magnet
Index: Sparks Will Fly with circle magnet
Thumb: Gold Fusion with squares magnet

And one at a time:

Bond-Tastic in the shade

Bond-Tastic in the sun

Bond-Tastic is a terra cotta, burnt sienna sort of brown. It borders on a dark orange, and is fairly unique--I've been looking for this color even in a non-magnetic polish, so this will do double duty for me. :)

Gold Fusion in the shade

Gold Fusion in the sun

Gold Fusion is a rich, burnished gold. Of all the magnetics I've seen, it gives the most 3D effect when used with the magnet. Another winner.

Con-Fused? in the shade

Con-Fused? in the sun

Con-Fused is an emerald green, perfect for Christmas manicures. The green in the previous collection was an olive, so I'm excited to have this. For some reason, the magnetic effect did not photograph well here, I think because of the curve of my nails. But if you look in the below picture, you can see there is actually quite a nice contrast.

Positively In Love in the shade

Positively In Love in the sun

Positively In Love is a deep magenta wine color. It also worked really well with the magnet, giving a nice sharp contrast. I'm happy to see this, because the dark purple in the last collection had the least color contrast in the collection (at least mine did).

Sparks Will Fly in the shade

Sparks Will Fly in the sun

Sparks Will Fly is a medium-deep blue that almost goes to a cerulean when magneted. The sun picture is a more accurate reflection of what this color looks like in both the shade and sun, for some reason--none of my shade pictures wanted to do it justice.

The final polish in the collection, Get Charged, looked an awful lot like Attraction (from the previous collection) to me, so I wanted to do a comparison for you:

Attraction vs. Get Charged

Attraction vs. Get Charged

In the bottle, these polishes look very similar; Get Charged seems to have a hint of purple-grey to it, but not much. However, once on the nail, you can see a clearer difference, and once you hit it with the magnet, the difference is stark. Attraction pulls a silver-black contrast, with a heavy glitter-fleck feel. Get Charged gives a purple-black contrast, with a more standard shimmer effect. The effect is beautiful, and this is possibly my favorite magnetic polish of all the ones I've seen. So these are definitely not dupes. :)

My thoughts and observations on the collection:

I am very happy with this collection of colors, because these are jewel-tones that are brighter than the last collection (which was much more muted). To my eye, all of the colors are unique enough to justify owning them, even if you own the previous collection--possibly you could skip Positively In Love since the other collection had two somewhat similar polishes, but I personally wouldn't.

If you look at the last picture above, you'll see that the circle image looks a little muddier with Attraction than with Get Charged. I definitely found this to be true of most of the collection--it seems like they reworked the formula a little bit to get sharper contrasts with the colors. This also makes me happy. Bond-Tastic and Gold Fusion seemed to give the least-sharp contrasts, but they were still just as good as the previous collection, and the rest were better. Also, in the few hours I've been wearing them, I've seen less blurring with the newer collection than with Attraction, which is also a welcome improvement.

The formula went on well; you can get away with one coat for most of them, especially if you want to wear the polishes unmagnetized, but I found the magnet worked better when there was two coats applied to the nail.

My only real disappointment with this collection is the magnet. The magnet from the first collection was fairly weak, compared to other brands (for example, Color Club's magnets). I was hoping they would improve that with the second collection. While the magnet does seem to be a little bit better, it's still not as good as other magnets I've used, quite noticeably. That said, I found the circle design worked quite well, better than the other two designs on the magnet. And the better reactivity of the new polishes does help a bit too, but that shouldn't have to matter. I just don't understand what the difficulty is producing a stronger magnet set.

So, there are my thoughts on the collection. Love the polishes, love the magnet shapes, don't love the magnet strength so much. :)

If you would like to see full swatches or see more comparisons with the previous collection, leave me a request and I will try to get it done for you. :)

Thanks for taking a look!

M.

(the products in this review were purchased with my own money.)