APR '13 Ipsy Glam Bag

I've been a bad little beauty blogger for the past week or so & I'm so sorry for the lack of posts. Life's been a tad busy & I've just been so exhausted...& then it was my birthday...but now I am back! I've had the April Ipsy Glam Bag for a little bit & now I am finally going to share it with you.

The theme this month is Pretty In Pink & I'm super happy with the contents! The bag itself is super cute & seems to be the most sturdy & well made bag that I've received so far. Also, one of the items is probably my favorite item that I've ever gotten from any beauty subscription. We'll get to that, though...let's start with pics!

April 2013 Ipsy Glam Bag

PHOTOS & REVIEWS AFTER THE JUMP!

Revlon Brilliant Strength - Beguile

Revlon has really been stepping up their polish game lately! Every time I visit the drugstore I see a handful of new Revlon polishes that immediately go on my wish list. One such polish that I finally scooped up is Beguile from their new Brilliant Strength line.

According to Revlon's website, the Brilliant Strength line has a "strengthening formula that combats breaking and brittleness and features a built-in protective base and top coat". Sounds good to me!

The swatch photos below are two coats with Duri Miracote topcoat & were taken with flash.

Beguile is a deep blue with green & purple duochrome. The duochrome effect isn't super strong, but you can definitely see the shift in good lighting & it has a nice shimmer to it. The formula was good, nice consistency & opaque after 2 coats.

Like I said before, I'm super excited about some of Revlon's new polish offerings & hope to feature more of them here soon!

What do you think of Beguile? Have you seen any interesting polishes from drugstore cosmetics brands lately?

Jessica - Hologram Chic

Hello & Happy New Year to you all!

Today I've got a quick post that includes a contender for my NYE mani...Jessica Hologram Chic.

I think silver holo would be a perfect mani to ring in the new year with! The above pic is two coats with no topcoat. I love the formula on this, it goes on super smooth & is opaque in 2 easy coats. Plus the holo effect is nice & strong!

I hope everyone has a safe & happy New Year's Eve! There will be much more KYNGF content coming up here in 2013, so be sure to come back!

Merry Christmas!

Quick cell phone post to say Merry Christmas Eve & Happy Holidays!

Nails are Orly Ignite with an All That Glitters Eggnog Wasted accent!

Julep - Harper

As I mentioned before, I cancelled my Julep Maven membership to sign up for SquareHue instead. That means that the December box was my last & today I have one of the December It Girl polishes for you - Harper!

Julep's website describes Harper as a "full-coverage opalescent mermaid blue multi-dimensional glitter" & I'd say that sounds about right. This aqua jelly polish is packed full of iridescent glitter! 

The photos below are 2 coats of Harper with 2 coats of Duri Miracote topcoat.

As you might be able to see, after 2 coats there is still some very slight VNL but it's much more obvious in the photos than it is in real life. The formula on this one was very thick. By the end of the manicure the polish was completely gooped up around the bottle opening. Adding some thinner would help Harper out a lot, I'm sure.

Despite the formula issues, this is a nice, bright, sparkly polish that's great to wear to holiday parties!

SquareHue!

Guess what? There's a new polish subscription service & I'm pretty excited about it!

It's called SquareHue & it looks promising. I found out about it from THIS post from one of my favorite nail polish bloggers, The PolishAholic. She has lovely pics of the December box polishes on her blog (as well as a coupon code to get your monthly box for only $14.99!).

After months of threatening to cancel my Julep subscription (after many customer service issues, among other things), I finally did it today & decided to sign up for SquareHue instead. The polishes are larger (a full .5oz vs Julep's .27oz) &, with the coupon code, the box is cheaper ($14.99/month with the coupon code vs Julep's $19.99/month price tag). Unlike Julep, there are no style options to choose from each month. They simply send you the 3 curated polishes, so hopefully they have some good ones. I can't wait to find out!

I will be receiving my first box in January & will definitely be reviewing it here so be sure to check back if you're curious!

All That Glitters - Eggnog Wasted

I was feeling festive today, so I decided to use my new All That Glitters polish - Eggnog Wasted!

According to the All That Glitters Etsy shop, Eggnog Wasted is a "light cream colored base with gold, red, green, brown and copper glitter." It includes micro glitter, hexes and bar glitter all with great payoff. The formula wasn't too thick (as it can be with these types of polish) and didn't require any fishing for glitter!

The photos below are 2 coats of Eggnog Wasted with Duri Miracote top coat.

A lovely polish with an amusing name, what else could a girl ask for? All That Glitters has some great holiday polishes & I'm hoping to pick up a few more after how great this one was!

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Aqua Lily!

I was lucky enough to pick up RBL's Aqua Lily during their most recent Bring It Back event (BIB4) & I was so excited when it arrived yesterday! Of course I had to put it on my nails as soon as possible & I decided to pair it up with another RBL fav of mine, Scrangie.

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Aqua Lily w/ Scrangie accent

Sorry for the awkward picture, I don't usually photograph my right hand but my left ring finger nail was involved in an unfortunate accident (aka - it broke).

Formula on both of these is great...pictured here at two coats with Duri Miracote topcoat.

Did you pick up any of the RBL BIB4 colors? What do you think?

Photo Spam!

Who doesn't love photo spam, am I right? These are just some of my recents & favs. <3

Nicole by OPI - Just Busta Mauve

butter LONDON - Trustafarian

China Glaze - It's a Trap-eze!

Jessica - Hologram Chic

Julep - Kate with a Mila accent 

Julep - America over Zoya - Carmen

Nicole by OPI - All Is Glam, All Is Bright

Zoya - FeiFei

Again, it's still a work in progress over here...but I'll get the hang of it in no time!

Zoya - Blaze

Zoya Blaze

2 coats + Duri Miracote top coat

I cannot get over this color, it's so pretty! Perfect for the holidays & the formula was great. I only picked up Blaze & Aurora from Zoya's holiday collection & they are both beautiful, but this just screams Christmas to me. I'll have to find a good green polish to pair it with for a potential Christmas mani. Look at that holo! Love love love. <3

New & Fresh

So I've finally decided to make the leap from only posting manicure pics on Tumblr (keepyournailgamefresh.tumblr.com - which will continue to exist) to actually giving this blog thing a shot. I'm no expert, but I love nail polish & beauty products in general & I love sharing pics & info! I'm hoping to post a little bit of everything but mostly focus on polish. I'm pretty excited & I hope everyone enjoys what they see! This is obviously a work in progress, but please keep checking back! <3