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 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!