LeChat Perfect Match Rosemantic Review

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Hello Loves!  I don't think I've mentioned it here, but I recently joined the admin team in a facebook group dedicated to LeChat Perfect Match called LeChat Perfect Match Swatches.  One of my fellow admins was given a gift of the new Limited Edition LeChat Perfect Match Rosemantic from LeChat and passed it along to me to review.  Rosemantic is the first LeChat Perfect Match of it's kind.  Not only is it a thermal polish, but it is also scented.  But that's not all!  This is the first LeChat Perfect Match Mood to come with a matching Dare to Wear Lacquer that is also a mood polish!

Let's start with the Gel Polish and then touch on the Dare to Wear lacquer.  Rosemantic is a pink to red thermal cream.  It offers full coverage in the cold phase in two coats but needed three to be completely opaque in the warm phase.  With that said, my coats are super thin so you might be able to get away with two.

As I mentioned previously, it is scented!  Rosemantic smells like, you guessed it, roses.  The fragrance is quite strong and lasted for the duration of my manicure.  I'll touch more on that in a minute.  I completely forgot to get a shot of the warm phase on it's own so I don't have a collage of the phases for this one, but here are the cold and transition shots.

There's an interesting thing about the Rosemantic Gel Polish.  It is a different color in the warm phase depending upon how you cure it.  When cured in an LED lamp, it is the pink featured on the bottle and in my swatch above.  As a user in the LeChat Perfect Match group discovered, it is a completely different color when cured with a CFL UV lamp.  When cured in the CFL UV lamp, the warm phase takes on a very peachy tone.  In the photo below, I cured the first (left) swatch in my Thermal Spa CFL UV lamp and the second (right) swatch in my Harmony 18G LED lamp.  Note that the left swatch is not pink toward the edge.  It is picking up the reflection from the pink swatch beside it.

At first, I expected this to be the result of the longer cure times and predicted that Rosemantic would fade to the peachy color with wear.  I was wrong (proof I'm not perfect lol).  When cured in LED, it stays true to the pink color you see here.  The change also only seems to impact the warm phase as the cold (red) is a match regardless of how you cure it.  The red might be a tad peachier when cured in the CFL UV lamp, but I can't really tell a difference with my eyes.

Let's talk about the Dare to Wear lacquer version really quick.  I wore it on my toes for a while and found the color to be true.  Application was smooth and coverage was nice with two coats.  I have no clue if the fragrance stuck around since I'm not exactly flexible enough to sniff my toe nail polish, but I do know that it stayed around on a swatch stick for quite a while.  I'm also not going to show you a picture of my toes, so how about a swatch stick picture?

You might notice that the color of the warm phase on the lacquer looks different than the color of the warm phase for the gel polish (both CFL UV and LED versions).  You're right.  It is different.  I put together this cute little grid that shows the Lacquer, CFL UV cured gel and LED cured gel side by side.  As you can see, the cold phase is pretty much a dead on match, but there are definite variations in the warm phase.  The polish seems a bit more purple, the CFL UV is peachy and the LED is pink.

Ok, now that you've seen the variations, are you ready for my thoughts?

• The lacquer doesn't match perfectly, but I'm totally ok with that since I rarely match my toes to my hands anyway.  Plus, unless you touch your toes a lot, I don't think they are different enough that anyone would notice.  I found it to be very shifty and definitely lives up to the thermal shifts we expect from the LeChat Mood gels.
• The scent is a bit strong for me.  Or maybe it's that I'm not a huge fan of rose fragrances.  Either way, my hands are near my nose a lot as a smoker and I found it to be stronger than I prefer.  This is after just one layer of top coat.  I did end up stamping over it and adding two more layers of top coat over the stamping (pics in a moment).  After the third layer of top coat, the scent was barely noticeable.  So if you aren't a fan of rose fragrances, don't let that deter you on this one.  A couple of layers of top coat will mute it enough that you won't notice unless you pick your nose.  ;)
• As long as you cure the gel polish in an LED lamp, the color stays true as a pink to red thermal.  If you cure in a CFL UV lamp, the color stays true as a peach to red thermal.  It doesn't change during wear that I could tell.  While some people might consider this a flaw in the color, I kind of like it.  Its like having two different gel polishes in the same bottle.
• If you wear enhancements, I should warn you that the enhancement (acrylic or gel) will absorb the fragrance.  I noticed it was super strong while I was filing off the color and could still smell roses after I applied a different gel polish.
• Finally, I only got 8 days of wear on my natural nails (right hand).  I don't know if the gel polish itself failed or if I was extra hard on my nails during school that week, but on the 8th day it peeled off of two nails in sheets.  I could speculate as to the cause, but I won't since I don't really know for sure.  ;)  I do know that my left hand was flawless at 12 days when I decided to change it, but my left hand is the one with gel extensions on two nails and gel overlays on the other three.

Ready to see Rosemantic with stamping?  I admit, I wasn't very creative with this one.  It is the color of roses.  It smells like roses.  You know I had to stamp it with roses.  lol  The stamping polish is Mundo de Unas black and the stamp is SE02B from the Pueen Encore Collection.  I adore the Encore collection for the endless possibilities!  Since I forgot to photograph all of the phases without the stamping, I have all three stamped phases to show you.  We'll start with warm and end with cold. 

What do you think?  Is LeChat Rosemantic scented mood polish a must have for your collection?  I definitely see it as being a popular color for Valentine's Day.  :)

Also, if you love LeChat, I invite you to join the LeChat Perfect Match Swatches facebook group!  It is a closed group for members only, but we welcome DIYers and Pros alike.  It's all about swatches of LeChat gel polish (Perfect Match and Nobility) and sharing the "LeLove".  :)

~Michelle

*This post use Amazon Affiliate Links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.  The LeChat Rosemantic that is featured in this post was provided to a friend as a press sample from LeChat.  It was passed along to me as a gift.  Thanks Angela!

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LeChat Rustic Retreat Collection

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Hello Loves.  I have swatches of the LeChat Rustic Retreat Collection to show you today.  The Rustic Retreat Collection is composed of 6 earthy creams that are perfect for fall.  This is a Perfect Match collection, which means they come in a set of gel polish and matching traditional lacquer.  LeChat is a brand that continues to impress me.  I'm not sure why I haven't swatched more of their offerings.  The formula is fantastic!

Ready for the swatches?  The first shade in the collection is a warm, berry toned purple called Wild Berry.  This is a very creamy gel.  I can't get over how beautifully it applied.  Completely opaque and flawless coverage in two coats! 

Maroonscape is a deep, vampy maroon cream with slightly brown undertones.  This one also applies like a dream and is opaque in two coats.  Unlike a lot of dark maroon gels, I found this one cured beautifully in just 30 seconds in my Couture Espree LED lamp.

Hazelwood is a lighter, medium brown cream that has definite stained hardwood tones.  It reminds me of the weathered and loved rocking horse my father made for me as a child.  I'm oh so tempted to use it as the base for a wood grain mani.  ;)  Like the others, application was flawless in two coats.

Down to Earth is a mossy forest green cream.  I found this one to be slightly thicker than the others, which made it a tad tricky to apply for me.  I had to go a little thinner on the coats than I usually would to keep it from wrinkling on the side of my pinkie nail.  With that said, it is a gorgeous color and the application issues I experienced are most likely my fault.  I have trouble getting the right amount of polish on the brush for my pinkies.  I swatched two coats since I had to go thinner, but this one could easily be a one coater.

Tranquility is what I would describe as a dusty sea foam blue cream.  I don't know if that's an accurate description or not, but it's what comes to mind for me.  Oddly enough, this is my least favorite in the collection.  The color is quite pretty, but it's just not my cup of tea I suppose.  Application was dreamy.

Finally, My Serenity is the perfect navy blue cream.  This one is my favorite hands down.  (Imagine that...a blue is my favorite.  lol)  Not only did it apply beautifully, but I had no issues with staining from soak off that are common with darker blues like this.  And just look at her!  She's stunning!  Amazing depth without needing even a hint of shimmer.  Be still my heart!

Now is probably a good time to apologize for the sub-par photos in this post.  I have no clue what happened, but apparently my ISO setting on my camera had been changed so the pictures have more noise than usual.  This was the first collection I swatched as I was recovering from pneumonia, so I'm blaming it on that.  ;)  I considered reswatching them, but I don't think the extra noise impacts the color too much so I decided to just go with it.

What do you think of the Rustic Retreat collection?  I personally think LeChat hit it out of the park with this one as I love all but one.  :)  I passed up the Mermaid Treasures collection that was released before this one, but now I think I might need to grab it too!

~Michelle

*This post uses Amazon Affiliate Links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.

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Welcome to Fall with Girly Bits Shift Happens

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Hello Loves!  I recently had my mind completely blown by Girly Bits Shift Happens, so I naturally had to use it in my first fall manicure for 2014.  Let's start with the mani, and then I'll tell you exactly why Shift Happens is my new favorite polish!

For this mani, I started with a base of LeChat My Serenity from the Rustic Retreat Collection.  I'll have swatches of the entire collection for you next week, so let's just call this a sneak peek.  ;)  My Serenity is a beautiful navy blue cream.

I then topped My Serenity with two thin coats of Girly Bits Shift Happens.  Wanna see it without the stamping?  Look at how she makes the mani glow!

Finally, I created the stamp by placing random dots of Mundo de Unas Bronze, Orange, Mustard and Reddish on the leaf image from Cici and Sisi 03.  I scraped a few times to blend the colors a bit, and the result is what you see here.  :)  This is the first time I've tried my Cici and Sisi plates, and I honestly love them.  The images are a nice size and stamp beautifully (at least, this one did).  I'll do a proper review of those later.

Ok, so why did Shift Happens blow my mind?  Well, Pam from Girly Bits recently invited me to select a few colors to review and I picked Shift Happens based on the swatches on the Girly Bits website (I'll have the other colors up for you soon).  My past experience with the Girly Bits duo and multichromes is that they are quite impressive in the bottle and on the nail.  Well, Shift Happens arrived and my initial thought when seeing it in the bottle was just "meh".  I was actually really surprised at how unimpressive this polish looks in the bottle.  I wasn't expecting it to be so...purple?  See, not much to write home about.

I had just finished swatching a plum purple cream at the time and was about to remove it, so I slapped a coat of Shift Happens over it.  My eyes immediately crossed, my jaw hit the floor, and I may have started to drool.  I'm not even exaggerating.  I proceeded to call my husband at work and tell him about the magic in this unimpressive looking bottle.  He hates when I do that, by the way.  lol

Ok, so I didn't get a good picture of it over the purple before I ruined it, but I did snag a crappy iphone picture under my horrible kitchen lights.   The picture doesn't even hint at the shift.  But I may have sent that crappy iphone picture to Pam at Girly Bits with the following message: "OMG! You didn't warn me! I'm currently wearing a plum purple gel, so I slapped a coat of shift happens over it. I think I just died. I might not wear anything else all fall!"  lol  I'm pretty sure Pam thinks I'm crazy now, but that's ok too.  Wanna see the amazingly unimpressive pic I sent her?

After I bumped that one and ruined it, I proceeded to my nail desk and broke out a swatch wheel and five of my darker cream gels.  I just had to see what it looked like over other colors.  Short answer, A-MAZE-ING!  Ok, so the photo below doesn't show the green shift, but look what it does to the colors!  The base colors (from left to right) are Revel Matrix, LeChat My Serenity, Ink Metro, Daisy DUO Muted Berry and LeChat Black Velvet.

Clearly, the combo of Shift Happens over LeChat My Serenity is my favorite of the five.  Wanna see her shift?  I only wish I could have captured the shift in all its glory, but this kinda shows it.  Pretty awesome, right?

Ok, so now you know why Girly Bits Shift Happens is my new favorite polish.  Don't be surprised if you see her popping up in nail art posts a lot this fall.  I don't think I have it in me to resist her siren song.  :)

~Michelle

*Shift Happens was provided by Girly Bits Cosmetics 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 provided as a courtesy and are not affiliate links.

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Accent Nail Double Feature: Pastel Stamping and Freehand

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Hello Loves.  I decided to do something a little different today - two manicures with the same accent nail.  One stamped and one freehand.  I honestly can't decide which one I like best!

Both manicures start with a base of Gelaze White on White (swatched here).  The ring finger is a simple accent nail with one ss4 crystal and one ss6 crystal.  They are both generic crystals from China that I purchased on Ebay.  Each size comes in a mixed set of about 20 different colors.  The quality is pretty good and I use these quite a bit.  I especially love the range of sizes available and purchased these in ss3, ss4, ss5 and ss6.  The accent nail also has a coat of Gelaze Fairy Dust (swatched here) for added sparkle.

The first manicure is a gradient stamp with KBShimmer Low & Be Bold and Let's Not Coral from the Early Summer 2014 Release (both swatched here).  I was thrilled to discover that these stamp beautifully over white for a pastel effect.  The image is from XL Plate V from AliExpress.  This is the first time I've attempted a gradient stamp with only two colors, and I'm pleased with how it turned out.  The colors blended nicely to create a purple at the transition point on most of the nails.  :)  I then added a thin layer of Gelaze Fairy Dust over the stamp.  (Click here for more details on gradient stamping)

The second manicure consists of these cute little freehand flowers.  I started by adding a layer of Gelaze Fairy Dust over the White on White base.  The centers of the flowers are dotted with LeChat Pink Lady and the petals are my favorite LeChat Angel from Above applied with a thin detail brush (both LeChat colors are swatched here).

Let's take another look at both manicures.

Which one is your favorite?  I simply can't choose!  I love the fairytale feel of the stamped manicure, but I also adore the open white space in the freehand manicure.

~Michelle

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LeChat Sugar Me Up Collection Swatches

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Hello Loves!  I have swatches of the LeChat Sugar Me Up collection to show you today.  My bestie won them in an Instagram contest and was kind enough to let me swatch them for you!  I'm sure there are at least two of these I need for my own collection.  :)  I was a little surprised that most of these are brighter than they appear on the LeChat facebook page.  I was expecting pastels, but I'm not disappointed at all. 

Before I get to the swatches, I couldn't resist a few nail art pieces with this one.  I'll show you one now and one at the end of the post.  I was going for something sweet.  I'm not sure I like it.  Rather than being sweet, it reminds me of the Circus.  But look - I managed to use tape!  I do love these adorable little bows from Born Pretty Store, though!

Ok, onto the swatches.  First up is Lollipop.  This is a slightly muted, slightly coral leaning orange cream.  Application was standard for LeChat - it went on smooth and streak free.  This is three coats, but it would have been fine with two.

Cotton Candy is a sweet, slightly muted pink cream.  Application was similar to Lollipop.  Again, this is three coats but two would have been fine.  I actually only used two for the base of the manicure I showed you before I started the swatches.

Lemon Drop is a very aptly named polish.  It is the exact color of a lemon drop candy.  This yellow cream applied nicely but not quite as well as the two before it.  This one did require three coats for it to be opaque.

This next swatch is Mint Jubilee.  This is a soft, bluish green mint cream.  It was a bear to photograph but is beautiful in person!  This is color accurate on my monitor, though I had to shoot a little darker and sacrifice skin tone to get it right.  Application was the same as with Lollipop or Cotton Candy and only two coats are truly needed.  I swatched three anyway for consistency. 

Spearmint is a bright green that reminds me a lot of the color of Double Mint Gum.  This one has a subtle shimmer.  You can see it a bit on the middle and ring finger nails.  Sadly, I had to shoot this one a little dark to get it accurate as well.  The shimmer wanted to make it appear blown out under my lamps.  This is yet another two coater than I swatched as three anyway.

Finally, Rock Candy is a gorgeous blue with the same muted shimmer as Spearmint.  I had a very hard time getting this one color accurate.  This photo is still a bit off.  The tone is correct, but it is a little brighter in the photo than it looks in real life.  This one also applied beautifully and is opaque in two coats.  It did seem a little thicker than the other 5, but I don't consider that a negative at all.  It wasn't thick enough to give me issues.

Finally, here's the other mani I put together using all 6 of the colors in the Sugar Me Up Collection.  I really like how this one turned out, but my husband says it looks like my Grandmother's shower curtain.  I swear that wasn't my inspiration, but it does look very similar.

Which of these are your favorite?  I definitely need Lemon Drop and Mint Jubilee.  I'm a little torn on Lollipop since I don't wear orange very often, but it is a gorgeous orange!

LeChat has a new collection out now called Mermaid Treasures.  I'll have swatches of that one too as soon as I can get my hands on them!  Hopefully very soon.  :)

~Michelle

*This post uses Amazon and Born Pretty Store Affiliate links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.

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Pastel Dots for Spring with LeChat Perfect Match

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Hello Loves!  It officially feels like spring in GA.  The air is warm, the flowers are blooming, and the world has a nice, yellow powder film on every surface.   Welcome to pollen season in the South.  With Easter right around the corner, I couldn’t resist breaking out a few of my pastel Lechats and my dotting tools.

I know I have been on a dot kick lately, but I just can’t help myself.  I do love doticures.  They’re so simple yet look so fun when completed.  For this doticure, I used four LeChat Perfect Match colors:  Happily Ever After, Butterflies, Angel from Above, and Pink Lady.

The colors freaked out my camera just a little when they are all in the same picture, so please note that they aren’t quite right in these shots of the complete manicure.  The photo above was taken in direct sunlight with my iphone and is strangely closer to accurate.  The photo below was taken in my light box with my Canon.  My husband was playing around with my camera the other day and I suspect he changed a few settings that I failed to notice when I took these photos.  I apologize for the weirdness.  Same goes for the crazy skin tone in the swatch pictures, but the colors are right on my screen in those.

Now for the pure swatches.  Happily Ever After is my perfect pastel yellow cream.  I was asking around in a few facebook groups for yellow recommendations when a friend saw my question and knew this would be the right one for me.  Thank you, Lynda!  You were right!

Butterflies has been on my wish list forever it seems.  I’m not sure why I never ordered it myself, but Kerri saw it on my list and sent it to me completely out of the blue (or purple, as the case may be).  Butterflies is an incredibly pretty, red leaning purple cream.  Thanks Kerri!

This next color holds a very special place in my heart.  Angel From Above is a lavender leaning blue cream, and one of the few bottles of polish I have completely used up.  I almost didn’t have enough left to swatch!  I wore this color almost non-stop while I was pregnant with my youngest son.  I was high risk and never knew when it would be “time” so I kept my nails blue for over a month.  He turned 1 year old yesterday.  :)

Finally, Pink Lady is a peachy pink cream that I picked up on a recommendation by Kim at Ten Little Canvases.  Kim has never steered me wrong when it comes to colors!

Finally, one last freaked out picture of the complete mani.  Again, I apologize for the photos that are not up to my usual quality standards.  I almost didn't share them, but I love this mani too much to keep it to myself!

Looking for inspiration? Check out these gorgeous spring and Easter manicures as well :)

An InLinkz Link-up

~Michelle

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