Barielle Gelt Me to the Party

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today is the final installment of the Barielle Holiday Hustle Collection with Gelt Me to the Party.  Barielle describes it as "a copper bronze metallic," which is pretty accurate.  The finish on Gelt Me to the Party is not the same as Wrap Me in Ribbon (the other they describe as metallic), which was almost like a chrome.  As I applied Gelt Me to the Party, I thought that the finish reminded me of SpaRitual Steel Magnolia, where it's brush-strokey as it goes on, but once dry it's just a glowy shimmer.

Like the others in this collection, this one was easy to control, but the application was a little higher maintenance because of the finish, where if one brush stroke is at an angle it can show when it's dry.  That just meant being a little slower and more careful than usual.  However, Gelt Me to the Party is also a two coater, so the extra time is not significant.  Here's the finished, dry manicure under artificial light.

Barielle Gelt Me to the Party Nail Polish, Two Coats Dry

As for the color, I think it's an unusual color and I like it, but not on me.  It makes my hands look kind of pink, and it just doesn't do anything for me.  I think this one might work really well next to brown skin, but I sure don't think it works with Irish skin.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader, and it wraps up Barielle's Holiday Hustle Collection.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  


*This polish was sent to me for review by the manufacturer.

Barielle Wrap Me in Ribbon

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm still cranking my way through Barielle's Holiday Hustle Collection, today with Wrap Me in Ribbon.  In the promo pictures, Wrap Me in Ribbon looks like a pink frost, and in the bottle I thought it was kind of a dark rose frost, but it's completely different when dry.  Barielle says this is "a metallic raspberry with violet and copper pearl undertones," and I'd say that's an accurate description of the finished manicure with Wrap Me in Ribbon.  It's much more metallic than frost.

Like the others, this polish was a little on the thick side, but sufficiently pigmented so two very thin coats are all that I needed.  Here's Wrap Me in Ribbon in the sun.

Barielle Wrap Me in Ribbon Nail Polish, Two Coats Dry

In the picture, there are slight brush strokes, but that's just because the picture's giant.  Just walking around normally, that doesn't show at all.  I was skeptical about this one, really, but now that I'm wearing it I quite like it.  The color is somewhat "safe," but the metallic finish makes it a really interesting combination.

That's just about all I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!  


*This polish was sent to me for review by the manufacturer.

Barielle Coalest Day of the Year

Good morning, Dear Reader!

The next color I have to show you from Barielle's Holiday Hustle Collection is Coalest Day of the Year.  It's described by the manufacturer as "a carbon gray with white pearls," but I think it's charcoal with silver-white shimmer.  Probably six of one and a half dozen of the other, but that's what I'd call it.

Anyhow, the polish is a bit on the thick side, but thin coats make it really manageable.  Coalest Day of the Year is good in two coats, and I also found it to be quite durable.  After this manicure dried but before I'd taken a picture of it, something went wrong around the house that required a whole bunch of cleaning where my hands were in water.  I was certain it would be ruined when I finished tidying up, and there's just a small amount of tip wear, which impressed me.  Here's the manicure after being tested.

Barielle Coalest Day of the Year Nail Polish, Two Coats Dry

Dangit, I just noticed the shadow over my pinky in the picture, but this one showed the polish best, so I'm keeping it shadow and all.  Please just ignore my pinky.

Back to the polish... I see where the folks at Barielle are coming from calling this "carbon gray."  It does look a little bit like pencil lead.  The really strong shimmer you can see in this Coalest Day of the Year is what differentiates it from other charcoal shimmers for me.  Since I'm often of the "The More, The Merrier" school of thought when it comes to shimmer, I like it a lot and would reach for this shade before most charcoals.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  


*This was sent to me for review by the manufacturer.

Barielle Snow Day

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have Barielle Snow Day for you.  Barielle says Snow day is, "an ice blue metallic with silver undertones," and I think that's accurate.  In the bottle and when wet on the nail, Snow Day looks super frosty, but it's much more metallic when it's dry.

It applied easily, and it's a two coater.  Here's Snow Day with top coat, completely dry.  In person rather than in a blown up picture, the brush marks don't show at all.

Barielle Snow Day Nail Polish, Two Coats Dry

That brings us half way through Barielle's Holiday Hustle collection, and I'm happy with them so far.  That's just about all I have for you today, so until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!  



*This polish was sent to me by the manufacturer for review.

Barielle Holiday Hustle Swatches Winter 2010

Iwas sent the Barielle Holday Hustle collection....I love it!Barielle has a great way of avoiding the typical so again they make me so very happy!
All swatches are 2 coats no top coat, in lightbox lighting.Gelt me to the Party is an antiqued Copper/bronze/goldI really wish this looked better on me because I love the color a lot!
Coalest day of the year is a dark gray almost black with pearl

Barielle Elle's Spell

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have another from Barielle's 2010 Holiday Hustle collection, Elle's Spell, which is the only non-frosty one.  As for availability, I got an email yesterday telling me the whole collection is on Barielle.com, so get 'em while they're hot.

Anyhow, Elle's Spell is described by the manufacturer as "a jelly red with multi-colored foil flakes," and I'd say that's accurate.  I'm much more impressed with Elle's Spell on the nail than in the bottle.  It looked interesting in the bottle, but it really comes alive on the nail.

It's much thinner than most Barielle nail polishes, but that's not all bad.  It applied really well, and the color builds nicely.  I used three coats to make it opaque, and it still retains the jelly quality and the flaky glitter isn't too dense in three coats.  Here it is in sunlight, the dry manicure.

Barielle Elle's Spell Nail Polish, Three Coats

Elle's Spell is a really nice polish, I think.  It's unique, holiday appropriate, and I just like it.  So far, so good for Barielle's Holiday Hustle... I'll try to have another for you tomorrow.  Until then, love and nail polish to you!  


*This polish was sent to me fore review by Barielle.

Barielle Jess' Champagne Toast

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Last night I finally changed my manicure, and it wasn't as bad as it could have been at all.  I think I'll be a little skittish about chunky glitter and any extra top coat for a while though!

What I changed to was Barielle Shades Jess' Champagne Toast from their 2010 Holiday Hustle collection, which was sent to me for review.  Since five of the six colors in this collection are frosts, it didn't seem like swatches would be a fair representation of them, since frosts look different when they're dry.  Instead, I figured I'd show you a dry manicure with them for each of the next six posts.

I used Jess' Champagne Toast first because it was the one that really caught my eye.  Barielle calls it "a metallic violet with rose gold glitter," and I'd agree with everything but calling it metallic - I think it's a frost.  Anyhow, I used two coats and it was good, but the polish is very thick so I had to really spread it thin.  I finished with one coat of top coat, and it's not perfectly smooth but not gritty.

Barielle Jess' Champagne Toast Nail Polish, Two Coats Dry

I think it's a bit more impressive in the bottle than on the nail because the polish is opaque and covers the glitter from the first coat, so it look grittier than it is.  It's not as if that's a huge, obvious issue when it's not a magnified picture, so I'm still pleased with the polish.

That's the update for now, Dear Reader.  I'll try to get the rest of these posted quickly so I'm not wrapping up the collection just as Summer 2011 shades are coming out.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Support World AIDS day with Barielle (Dec.1)

*Images from Barielle
In honor of World AIDS Day(December 1st), Barielle will be offering 10% off all products on Barielle.com.  Proceeds from  will be donated to World AIDS Day
So do some gift shopping or buy yourself a little gift to help support World AIDS Day!

Barielle Shades Ulta Exclusives Swatches Part 2

It's a busy day so let's jump right into the pretties!(Sunlight)Pink Sherbert is a sweet soft pink with amazingly glowy shimmer
(Shade)Magic shade makes her a nice work safe neutral pink
(Sun)Sailors Delight is a perfect baby pink with excellent streak free coverage in 2 coats(Shade)I just love the name of this one!
(Full sun)Expressive is a gorgeous lilac creme(Shade)I am addicted to purples and

Barielle Shades Ulta Exclusives Swatches Part 1 of 3

I was send the entire Barille Shades Ulta Exclusive collection to swatch andshare with you and well that is a lot of swatching so I will do this in 3 parts so as not to overwhelm.Barielle nail polish is available now at Ulta for $6.00 eachBarielle shades are certainly a brand I respect for their unique shades and abillity to stepoutside the standard pink and red box. You will notice that some

Barielle High Steppin' Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm late showing you this collection, but samples from Barielle arrived, and so I have it for you today.  High Steppin' is the Shades by Barielle Summer 2010 collection.  It's all shimmers and glitters, not a creme to be found.

As for application, I thought it was above average.  The Shades by Barielle formula is quite thick, but the brush is good and the polish is very easy to control.  I know some people thin thicker polishes right off the bat, but I find no need to here.  All six shades are well pigmented, so each only took two coats.  The dry time varies on these - I've worn two, Electric Boogie and Freestyle, and Electric Boogie dried in normal time, Freestyle was a bit slower.  The color was worth the wait.

The pictures are all in natural light, and Electric Boogie is a full day-old manicure, with the other five being swatches.

Electric Boogie is a midnight blue shimmer with lighter blue glitter.

Shades by Barielle Electric Boogie Nail Polish, Two Coats

Slow Motion is a pinkish neutral frost.

Shades by Barielle Slow Motion Nail Polish, Two Coats

Night Moves is a foily silver shimmer along the lines of Orly Shine and Zoya Trixie.

Shades by Barielle Night Moves Nail Polish, Two Coats

Belly Dance is an especially cool one - it's the putty color we've seen so much of this year, but the twist is it's a shimmer.

Shades by Barielle Belly Dance Nail Polish, Two Coats

Passion Pirouette is a pinkish purple frost.

Shades by Barielle Passion Pirouette Nail Polish, Two Coats

Freestyle is another really good one.  Rather than the mint green that we've been bombarded with, Freestyle is more of a light spring green shimmer with glitter.

Shades by Barielle Freestyle Nail Polish, Two Coats

That is the High Steppin' Collection from Shades by Barielle.  I like the fact that the polishes are colors have a twist on them, for the most part, and I'm pleased with them.  I have to try Passion Pirouette on its own to see if the frostiness dies down a bit when it's dry, but to have one questionable polish out of six ain't bad.

These are Big Three Free, and they're $8 each on Barielle.com.

That's all for now, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Shades by Bareille Summer 2010 High Steppin' Swatches

The Summer 2010 High Steppin' collection Shades by Barielle6 Groovy Metallic hues designed by celebrity manicurist Elle

Electric Boogie is a beautiful cobalt blue with scattered multi colored glitter.This is one coat and for those who fear the glitter, it removes very easily with no staining.The name is perfect! I do not own another color like this, it's a must have!

Slow Motion is a pinkish

Barielle High Steppin' News

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I just got a press release from Barielle about their Summer 2010 collection, High Steppin'.

Barielle High Steppin' Collection Promo Images

Here's what we know about the colors:

Electric Boogie—an inky metallic blue with teal glitter

Belly Dance—a nude taupe with shimmer

Night Moves—a sparkling metallic silver

Passion Pirouette—a grape metallic purple

Slow Motion—a light metallic lavender 

Freestyle—a cool metallic mint with silver glitter

Another promising collection for Summer 2010!

Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

Prissy Pirates

This manicure was for my personal entertainment.I started with 2 coats of Barielle Shdes Blossom, a beautiful color that does not love my skin tone.I am really loving the Barielle Shades, all that I have tried thus far have a very nice formula, are well pigmented and very unique colors.I then realized that this color didn't love my crazy Native American/Nordic complection so I thought I'll add

Little June Bug how very much I adore you

My very first Barielle Shades....June Bug!I have used Barieele treatments for a long time and love them so it's about time I tried some Barielle Shades.I am not a glitter girl...honestly I don't wear glitter polish because even with the foil method removal is painful and so I just can't enjoy the polish. June Bug is perfect for us non glitter girls, it's a medium urban gray with beautiful aqua

More Barielle Shades All Lacquered Up Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I promised you the rest of Barielle's Fall 2009 collection, and here I have it. These are the remaining six colors I didn't show you yesterday.

As with the six I swatched last night, the formula for these was very three free (simultaneously thick and runny), and all were three coaters. There are some interesting colors in this group as well.

Blackened Bleu is very pretty, and reminds me a lot of China Glaze's Black Bil-a-Bong. It's also similar to, but not as black as, one of the Brucci nail polishes from last winter. I applied this one in the dark while tired, and it shows. Sorry about that!

Glammed Out Garnet is a sparkly deep red, but even at three coats, I still have VNL with this one.

Lava Rock is an almost-black shimmer, similar to OPI Black Tie Optional.

Polished Princess is like Zoya Irene with a different shimmer, a kind of limey pea green.

Slate of Affairs is a nice slate blue with a blue flash. In the bottle, the blue flash is much more pronounced than it is on the nail.

The last is U-Concrete-Me, a medium grey creme along the lines of MAC On the Prowl, RBL Stormy, China Glaze Recycle, and RBL Stormy, but with a hint of blue to it.

Now you've seen them all. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Barielle Shades All Lacquered Up Collection for Fall 2009

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I had a long, tiring day today out and about today, and came home to a surprise - a package from Barielle. Inside was their Fall 2009 Collection, called All Lacquered Up, which was created by celebrity manicurist Elle with Michelle from All Lacquered Up as a guest collaborator. It consists of twelve colors, and I decided to swatch six of them for you while I unwound from highway driving.

No thought at all went into the selection of which six to show you - they came in two six packs, and I swatched one of the boxes. All six were three-coaters for me, and the formula was very three-free. It was thick and a bit runny at the same time, kind of like the polish was trying to escape the brush. There are definitely some unique colors here though!

Since I'm weary, I'll just show them to you in alphabetical order. Again, no thought...

First is Falling Star, which is a blue creme with copper glitter. I definitely have nothing like this one.

Next is Get Mauve-ing, which is like a slightly darker Sephora by OPI Call Your Mother - a greyed out mauve creme.

Then we have Make It A Latte, a chocolate brown shimmer. I had high hopes for this one seeing it in the bottle, but the shimmer is not as pronounced as I'd hoped for.

Out-grey-geous is a silver shimmer with gold microglitter, along the lines of OPI's Brand New Skates but more metallic.

Pin Up is a vivid red shimmer with gold microglitter. I have many reds with gold shimmer, but since it's a combination that works, here's one more.

The last for today is Putt-e-on Me, a greyed out taupe creme a la OPI You Don't Know Jacques, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, and Sparitual Sage. I was thinking a comparison of those would be interesting, but I'm really, really far off from unpacking nail polish in the moving-in process...

So that's Box #1. I'll have the rest of the collection swatched for you soon. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Konad Princess Nail Polish

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I got a package this morning. Guess what was in it! The Konad Princess polishes from WowSoCool I showed you the other day. I've been having some Konad fun playing with a few of them today to show them to you. Since my aim was to show you the polishes, I didn't keep track of the plate numbers. I was lucky I could keep track of what I was doing at all! One down side to all Konad nail polishes is that they're not labelled with a name or number, so you just have to remember what it is. I was able to do that today, but a week from now, I'm not so sure!

Two of these are a far cry from my best work, one due to the polish and one due to me getting sloppy at the end. I'm showing them to you anyhow just to show you the colors.

We'll start with what my left hand looks like right now (I only did my left hand on all of these, since you can't see me right!). It's H&M You Rock My World as a base (silver holo) with Violet Pearl Princess Polish over it. This is the one where I got sloppy - sorry about that.

The next one is off because of the polish, which was Jungle Green Konad Princess Nail Polish over a base of Barielle Swizzle Stix. For some reason, this one just really stuck to the stamper and it took two passes and ridiculous pressure to get the stamp. Bummer, because it is really cool in the bottle. The good news is that it's the only one of he batch that gave me trouble. The picture's not blurry, the lines are. Sorry if I hurt your eyes!

Okay, now we have the crappy ones out of the way and you've seen Violet Pearl and Jungle Green. On to more successful swatches!

The next one is what my right hand is (it's the mani I did this morning). It's a hot look, the mismatched hands. Anyhow, it's inspired by a 1974 kitchen - a base of Sally Hansen Salon Forsythia (Spring 2009 Tracy Reese) with Olive Green Konad Princess Nail Polish stamped on it. I really like this one. Harvest gold and avocado all the way!!!

The last one is a base of Revlon Pink Again with Coral Blue Konad Princess Nail Polish over it. I like this pattern a lot - if you look closely and know what you're looking for, you can see that it's knit stitches. I knit (or did, my supplies are packed away), and the individual stitches on patterns are exactly like this Konad stamp.

That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!