KBShimmer Spring 2016 Polish Collection

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Hello Loves!  If you popped over from my other post from today, thank you for sticking around.  I have the complete KBShimmer 2016 Spring Collection to show you.  This release actually consists of two collections of 7 polishes each.  There's the Spring Collection that was inspired by relevant spring shades for 2016 and then there's the Mega Flame Collection that is a continuation of KBShimmer Favorites like Alloy Matey.

Let's take a look at the Spring Collection first.  Then we'll end with the incredible Mega Flame Collection.

The first polish in the Spring Collection is my absolute favorite.  I love the look of a nice crelly, but this one is incredible! Prints Charming consists of a milky white base that is loaded with fuchsia, turquoise and sapphire glitters.  The result is a very fun and feminine polish that builds to a beautifully opaque finish with awesome depth in three coats.  I found it fairly easy to apply without much need to move the glitters around.

Peony Pincher is a new addition to the Ultra Flare line.  This is described by KBShimmer as a pastel pink holographic polish with lavendar undertones, but if you ask me its purple.  lol  The holographic effect is quite strong and I found it to be opaque in two easy coats.

Hello Dahlia might just be the perfect peach for spring.  Based on the 2016 Pantone Color Peach Echo, Hello Dahlia is a dusty peach crelly with scattered holographic shimmer.  She absolutely shines in sunlight and is more subdued indoors.  I felt I needed three coats for full coverage.

Upside Round is a fun, 90s inspired glitter topper.  I confess, I forgot to swatch this one before applying my weekly gel polish, so this is one has a hot pink gel polish base hiding (sorta) under my chosen black polish base.  Black also might not have been the best choice for showing this topper.  There are blue glitter rounds that don't quite show up over black, but you can see them on some nails where they overlapped the other neon glitters.  I found it needed a little bit of glitter placement, but that is to be expected with glitter this size.

Pools Paradise is another Pantone inspired polish.  Based on the Pantone color Limpet Shell, this light, green leaning aqua crelly base is spiced up with subtle pops of neon pink, periwinkle and aqua glitters.  The result is a fun polish that will easily transition into summer.  I found it needed three coats to be opaque.

I Wet My Plants is based on the Pantone color Serenity.  Aside from having the best name in the collection, the polish is pretty fabulous too.  The pastel periwinkle crelly base has garden inspired shades of glitter - pink, sapphire, silver and purple.  As with the others, I like this one best with three coats.

The final color in the Spring 2016 Collection is another addition to the Ultra Flare line.  Purr-fectly Paw-some is a pastel blue linear holographic polish with steel grey and periwinkle understones.  This one is also inspired by the Pantone color Serenity.  I found the holographic effect to be quite strong and the polish is opaque in two coats.

Ready to see the new Mega Flames?  This collection consists of micro holographic glitters in tinted bases.  They all offer perfect, full coverage in two coats!  Application is a breeze.  Removal can be a little bit difficult since they do have a heavy glitter load, but they are totally worth it!  I won't say a whole lot about each one since I would be repeating myself over and over, but let's take a look.  Oh...I should point out that this is the first collection I have swatched with my new setup since we moved, and I hadn't quite found my photography groove yet.  So some are soft focused a little too much in an attempt (sometimes failed attempt) to capture the amazing "flame" from the glitter.  But I think you can get the basic idea.  None of them are dull compared to the others.  All of the flames are shown here with one coat of KBShimmer Cleary On Top topcoat (so were the others above, but it seemed less important to mention it there.  lol).

First up is Ripe For The Pink-ing.  This is a raspberry pink with blue undertones.

So Flamous is a copper leaning peach that falls into the neutral category for me.  It's like a safe for work nude that is somehow not safe for work.  ;)

Stalk Market is a celery green with yellow tones.

Smells Like Green Spirit is a deeper lime green.  This one is more like crayola green to me.

Set in Ocean is a Caribbean Blue inspired aqua.  Christy totally nailed the water theme with this one.

Things That Make You Go Bloom is a lavendar toned beauty.

And finally, for the lovers of all things dark and mysterious, Night Bright is a black tinted base with those holographic glitters.  Be still my heart! Its like a galaxy on my nails!

So there you have them - the 14 new KBShimmer polishes for Spring.  KBShimmer also released a few other goodies, including a matte top coat and a cuticle cream that is A-Maze-Ing.  I'll cover those in a separate post because they're so awesome they deserve to stand alone.  Well, that and I'm still testing the cream so I can show you the full review.  But I can tell you already that it rocks and has a matte finish that is awesome for pictures.  Heck, I used it in half the swatches in this post.  Scroll back through and see if you can tell which ones.  ;)

You can purchase any of these polishes on KBShimmer's Website here or on Amazon by clicking the links throughout the post.  For my international readers, check out Harlow & Co for all your KBShimmer needs.  :)

~Michelle

*The KBShimmer polishes featured in this post were provided by KBShimmer for my honest review.  This post uses Amazon Affiliate Links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.  All other links are courtesy links and do not benefit ManicTalons.com

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KBShimmer Birthstone Collection - Swatches and Review (Partial)

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Hello Loves!  Today I have six of the KBShimmer Birthstone Collection polishes to show you.  This collection released January 1st.  I'm a bit behind on showing them, but I promise they are sooooo worth seeing!  The collection consists of 12 gorgeous, full cover flakie packed polishes with scattered holographic effects.

To be completely honest right off the bat, I love and hate this collection.  I love it because it is incredible and applies beautifully (at least the 6 I have to show you do...I can't say for the rest).  I hate it because I didn't have the extra cash to pick up the other 6 and I NEED them.  NEED!!!  Read that in the whiniest voice you can imagine.  That's how bad I NEED them!  lol  Even more, I NEED them in Gel Polish, but that will never happen unless I can somehow convince Christy to launch a gel polish line.  (Hint Hint lol)  Oh, and they were a pain in the butt to photograph.  I did my best and they look beautiful in my pics, but seriously, the pics do not do them justice.

There is a method to my choices.  I picked Diamond because the Two Foot Terrorist was born in April.  I picked Black Pearl because The Young Prince was born in June.  Sapphire because my husband was born in September.  And Ruby because I'm a July baby.  Garnet for my Anniversary Month and Aquamarine because I ran out of important months and just thought it was pretty.  lol

Let's look at Diamond first.  This one is probably the least unique of the 6 for me.  There are a lot of silver glitter polishes out there with holographic sparkle.  However, I don't have any quite like this one.  It applies beautifully and is opaque in two coats.  The sparkle is over the top and the flakes are fine so that I didn't have to fight with it at all.  Perfection in a bottle, I tell you!  Though the color isn't that unique, it has quickly become my all time favorite silver polish.

Aquamarine is very similar to Diamond but has a slightly aqua tint.  Application and sparkle are the same.

Since Diamond and Aquamarine look very similar, I decided to include a swatch stick picture that shows them side by side.  I took this in an attempt to capture the scattered holo a little better in all of the polishes.  That was a fail, but it makes a great comparison picture.  ;)  You can see the aqua tint better when Aquamarine is between Diamond and Black Pearl.  Both rows of swatches are the same...just slightly different angles.

Moving on, Christy shared that Black Pearl has been the least popular color from the collection so far.  That little fact honestly blows my mind!  I've worn it three times already and I don't even wear polish since I wreck it working on clients.  Black is such a hard color to make unique.  Sure, you have blue toned blacks and red toned blacks, but black glitters usually fall kind of flat.  This one has awesome depth and sparkle!  Oh yeah, and that perfect two coat coverage.  Sadly, I completely failed to capture the scattered holo effect on this one.  The silver flakies took over a bit.  You can see it a tiny bit on my middle finger in the second photo.

Next up is Sapphire.  Words cannot even begin to describe this polish.  Perfection.  Sapphire Blue perfection.  Of course, y'all know how crazy I am about blues...but seriously, just look at it!  Two coat coverage and more sparkle than you can shake a stick at!

Garnet is a dark maroon that is just as amazing at Sapphire.  The darker shade really lets the holographic shimmer pop.  Oh yeah, and it's another two coater.  I currently have this one on my toes and it makes me wish I had a few extra toes.  Ok, not really...but you get my point.  lol

Finally, Ruby is your standard ruby shade - red that leans a little to the pink side.  I don't think Christy could have nailed this shade any closer than she did!  Trust me, as a July baby, I have had a lot of rubies in my life.  Both natural and lab created (aka flawless...just not "real").  This color is DEAD ON for a flawless ruby.  And yes, two coats again.  The color is a little blown out in the first picture due to the silver shimmer, but it is accurate in the second and third pictures.  :)

All of the swatches shown here have KBShimmer Clearly On Top over the colors.  I can't remember if I've talked about Clearly On Top here before, but it is my current favorite fast dry top coat.  I've tried several and Clearly On Top has yet to let me down.  It doesn't go goopy as fast as Seche Vite and keeps colors true unlike my old favorite Out The Door.  Its especially perfect for winter pedicures so my clients don't have to walk out the door in flip flops, but I love it most for princess manicures.  Little girls do NOT sit still long enough for polish to dry and Clearly On Top dries so fast that they at least have a fighting chance of making it out of the building with pretty nails.  Oh, and it doesn't smear my art either.  Whoo Hoo!

In case you're wondering about removal, I did find that the polishes in this collection are a tiny bit harder to remove than a shimmer or cream, but not as difficult as glitter polishes.  I saturate a cotton ball in acetone and let it sit on the nail for about 20 seconds before wiping.  It takes about 3 cotton balls per hand and I have plenty of sparkle left over on my skin to wash off, but it isn't too bad.  Not like those glitter polishes that require a jackhammer to remove! 

So there you have them - six of the twelve amazing polishes in the KBShimmer Birthstone Collection.  Rest assured, I WILL have them all at some point.  After all, I NEED them (whiny voice again lol).  If you need them too, you can pick up your own bottles on Amazon here or by clicking on the names throughout this post or on KBShimmer's website here.

~Michelle

*The polishes featured in this post were provided by KBShimmer Bath and Body for my honest review.  This post uses Amazon Affiliate Links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.  All other links are courtesy links and do not benefit ManicTalons.com. 

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KBShimmer Winter 2015 Select Swatches

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Hello Loves!  KBShimmer Bath and Body recently released their Winter 2015 Polish Collection.  This collection consists of 14 new shades, including the 2015 Toys for Tots Charity color.  This release also includes several winter themed water slide decals.  I have some of those to show you but I'm waiting until a little later in the season.  Be sure to check them out here.  For today, I have seven of the new polishes to show you.  Ready to see them?

The first color I have to show you is one that excites me way too much.  I have been craving a true red cream from KBShimmer for so long!  Chilly Pepper is exactly that.  The formula is perfection and the color is exactly what I dreamed it would be.  Thanks, Christy!  All of today's swatches use KBShimmer Clearly On Top topcoat as well.  Excuse the bubbles in this one.  It was the first one I swatched and I forgot to let the bubbles settle from shipping.  I was a little excited.  lol  Clearly On Top is a quick dry top coat that does not disappoint!

Next up is a strong, linear holographic polish with smokey, dark grey tones called Coal In One.  Application is nice and I found it to be opaque in two coats. 

Brrr-tiful Dreamer is a grape leaning grey crelly with aqua, sliver, purple and fuchsia glitters.  I found that this one needed three coats for even glitter distribution, but it was opaque in two.  I should note that my camera didn't want to capture this one accurately.  It is more muted than it appears in my photos.

Claws and Effect is tied for my favorite polish in this release.  It is a dark purple leaning navy holo polish with blue/pink shifting glass flakes.  This polish has an incredible rainbow in direct lighting and the glass flecks really show off in indirect lighting.  It has so much dimension and is opaque in two coats for me!

Fleece Navidad is a soft grey/silver holographic polish with blue glass flakes.  The holo in this one is subtle but beautiful.  I swatched three coats here for full opacity.

Kind of a Big Dill is a dark green jelly base with holographic glitters. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this polish.  It reminds me of a dark evergreen tree with those sparkly silver icicles.  I swatched three coats for full coverage.

Finally, Yule Worthy is described as a holiday glitter topper or stand alone polish.  I don't like it as a topper, but I adore it in three coats as a stand alone!  This is the perfect color to transition from fall to winter.  It has a deep brown toned plum base and is loaded with holographic micro glitter.  My photos didn't capture the holographic glitter effect, but I promise it pops in person and is incredible!

Be sure to check out the other gorgeous colors in this release!  I had a very hard time choosing 7 to show you.  They are available for purchase now on KBShimmer's website here.  They are also on Amazon, and I have linked to each there in the descriptions above the swatches.  I'll show you those winter themed water slide decals over the next few weeks.  I'm hoarding them so I can wear them for longer than a day.  lol

~Michelle

*The polishes featured in this post were provided by KBShimmer for my honest review.  This post uses Amazon Affiliate links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.  All other links are courtesy links and do not benefit ManicTalons.com. 

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