Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection

Press Sample

Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection

Hello Loves!  As much as I love my gel polishes, at this point it is hard for me to get super excited about a polish.  You can imagine that after swatching hundreds of colors, they all start to look the same, right?  Well, I have a collection to show you today that really got my heart pumping.  I received the package in the mail and started swatching them less than an hour later!  This is the Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection.  Six fabulous, sinfully shifty multichromes!  Let me tell you, these little bottles of magic do not disappoint.

The Snake Charmer Collection consists of two sets of three polishes each.  Set 1 is made of up Blue Venom, Copperhead Charm and Slitherine.  These three polishes are multichrome flakies in a clear base.  They apply like a glitter polish and build to full coverage with amazing shift.  Like glitter polishes, application can be a bit tricky, but it well worth it in the end.  For these swatches, I started with a thin layer.  The second coat was a little thicker but I still had gaps in coverage.  I added a third thin coat that evened everything out.  In hind sight, two regular coats would have provided the same coverage.  These are not swatched over a black base.  :)  Ready to see them?

First up is Copperhead Charm.  This is the one color in the whole collection that reminds me most of a snake.  It shifts through red, brown, gold and green.  So freaking pretty!  I feel that it is also the shiftiest of the polishes in Set 1.  Just look at all those colors!!!
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Copperhead Charm Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Copperhead Charm Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Copperhead Charm Swatch

The next polish in Set 1 is Blue Venom.  This one shifts through teal, blue, and purple with a coppery flash at extreme angles.
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Blue Venom Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Blue Venom Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Blue Venom Swatch

Slitherine is the final shade in Set 1 of the Snake Charmer Collection.  She goes from blue to purple with a little copper or gold at extreme angles.  I actually found this one to be very similar to Blue Venom and had a hard time telling the swatch sticks apart before I labeled them.
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Slitherine Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Slitherine Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Slitherine Swatch

Let's take a look at Set 2 from the collection: Fangtastic, Give Me a Hiss and Medusa.  The polishes in Set 2 are made with pigments instead of flakies.  They are much smoother and tons easier to apply.  I swatched three coats for each of these, but they would offer full coverage in two if I used regular layers instead of super thin.  Surprising fact - I tried these over a black base and found they didn't shift as much as they do on their own.  So all of these are swatched over my natural nail with no black base.

Fangtastic shifts through blue, purple and red with a gold flash at extreme angles.  I found this one the most difficult to photograph.  The purple and blue wanted to blend together on film.  In person, the shift is there but is not as pronounced as some of the other polishes in the collection.  So if you like a little shift but don't like your polish dancing all over the place, Fangtastic is your color.
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Fangtastic Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Fangtastic Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Fangtastic Swatch

Give Me a Hiss is my current favorite of the collection and the one I'm still wearing.  I've had so much fun blowing people's minds at the salon with this one.  They keep looking at my nails like they're on a psychedelic trip.  Its so funny how many of the finishes we see in the nail world that blow minds for those who don't follow a million blogs.  But I digress.  Give Me A Hiss has an incredible range of colors.  It shifts through purple, red, copper, gold and green...hitting every color in between.  Every time I look at my hands, I see a different color.  My camera didn't capture them all.
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Give Me A Hiss Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Give Me A Hiss Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Give Me A Hiss Swatch

Finally, poor little Medusa is the odd ball of the group.  But don't let her fool you...she has bite!  Medusa shifts from gold to green with blue/green at extreme angles.  I also found her to be the most unforgiving when it comes to showing flaws in my nails, but I think that's due to the lighter color.  Oops.  Now you know my nails aren't perfect.  lol
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Medusa Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Medusa Swatch
Bundle Monster Snake Charmer Collection Medusa Swatch

So there you have it - the amazing Snake Charmer Collection of Gel Polishes from Bundle Monster.   Before I go, I want to talk a little about the price.  Bundle Monster is known for affordable gel polishes.  These are also affordable in my opinion, but they are priced higher than we are used to seeing from Bundle Monster ($13.99 each or $34.19 per set).  That might be a shock to some of you, so let me touch on why.  In my experience through working with a few Indie companies, the pigments and flakies used to make these amazing shifters are super expensive compared to their non-shifty counterparts.  Unfortunately, the result of more expensive ingredients is a higher priced polish.  I fully believe they are worth the extra cost.  I have tried several duochrome and multichrome gel polishes over the years and these have the best shift I have seen hands down.  If you need them but can't justify purchasing them all (trust me, you need them), hopefully my pictures and review will help you narrow it down to the best colors for you. :)

These collections are not on Amazon yet, but you can buy them direct through Bundle Monster's Website here.

~Michelle

*The Snake Charmer Collection Polishes featured in this post were provided by Bundle Monster for my honest review. All links within this post are courtesy links and do not benefit ManicTalons.com.


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Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Pink Gellac Glamourize Collection

Press Sample

Pink Gellac Glamourize Collection Swatches and Review

Hello Loves!  I'm back with a fun review.  I have the Pink Gellac Glamourize Collection to show you today.  This Holiday inspired collection consists of 5 glittery shades that are perfect for Christmas and New Years!  Ready to see them?

I would love to say that I'm going to show you my favorite of the collection first, but I honestly can't pick a favorite.  I love all of these polishes so much that I just can't decide.  They are all so unique or perfect in their own ways.  So let's just pick one and go from there.

Ultimate Red is a classic glittery red on steroids.  My camera couldn't capture all of the glittery goodness in this one.  The base is a true red with slightly orange undertones.  The shot without the bottle captures it best.  I did find this one offers perfect coverage in two coats, but the glitter can leave the free edge feeling a little rough.  So you might need to smooth it a tad before applying your top coat.  I also included close up shots of all of these.  You can see the rough edge best in the macro shot below.
Pink Gellac Ultimate Red Swatch
Pink Gellac Ultimate Red Swatch
Pink Gellac Ultimate Red Swatch

Mysterious Black is one that I really didn't expect to like but ended up loving once I put it on my nails.  This soft black gelly base is full of dark silver shimmer and small and large black hex glitters.  I did feel that it needs 3 coats for opacity and even glitter distribution, but the end result is well worth the extra layer!
Pink Gellac Mysterious Black Swatch
Pink Gellac Mysterious Black Swatch
Pink Gellac Mysterious Black Swatch

Let's jump to the golds.  Diva Gold is an interesting and unique shade in my opinion.  This clear base is loaded with golden shimmer and gold glitter.  Again, I needed three coats for even glitter distribution and opacity, but the result is a festive gold that is unique to my collection.  I love that the shimmer builds to a full coverage finish.
Pink Gellac Diva Gold Swatch
Pink Gellac Diva Gold Swatch
Pink Gellac Diva Gold Swatch

Stardust Gold is very similar to Diva Gold in that it consists of a clear base that is loaded with golden shimmer.  The difference is Stardust Gold has small blue glitters and larger blue holographic hex glitters.  Definitely a unique polish!  Again, I swatched three coats for full coverage and even glitter distribution.  Such a fun polish!
Pink Gellac Stardust Gold Swatch
Pink Gellac Stardust Gold Swatch
Pink Gellac Stardust Gold Swatch

Finally, let's jump back to black with Glitterize Black.  This black jelly base is loaded with metallic glitters.  Red, Green, Gold, Silver and Blue make this color a party on your nails.  I swatched three coats in the photos below, but I honestly could have gotten away with two.
Pink Gellac Glitterize Black Swatch
Pink Gellac Glitterize Black Swatch
Pink Gellac Glitterize Black Swatch

Since I'm easing myself into Christmas, I decided Glitterize Black is the perfect base for my first Christmasy mani of the season.  I went with a simple candle and holly accent nail.  I really need to work on my freehand holly, but it will do for a week.  ;)
Christmas Manicure Candle Nail Art

What do you think of the Pink Gellac Glamourize Collection?  I'm very happy to see unique glitter combinations and I can't wait to offer them to my clients.  I predict many accent nails using some of these glittery beauties.  If you want to add any of these polish (or all of them) to your collection, you can purchase them through the Chickettes Boutique here.

That's all for now.  I'll try to be back soon with a salon update.  Thanks for sticking with me while I'm launching my business and putting more of my focus there.

~Michelle

*The Pink Gellac Glamourize Collection featured in this post was provided by Chickettes for my honest review.  All links within this post are courtesy links and do not benefit ManicTalons.com.
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