The one coat wonders are back! These lovelies appeared at my door unexpectedly a while back for review purposes and after playing around with them and wearing them on and off for the past few months I now have time to review them.

The collection "Be Brilliant" was inspired by the hair product of BioMega. I'm not familiar with BioMega, so I can't speak much on accuracy, but I can say that the colors are beautiful!

Also, super exciting, Venique is now available to consumers! You may remember in my previous post about the brand that were exclusive to professionals unless you browsed sights like Amazon or Ebay. Now their nail polishes are available to purchase through Loxa Beauty. They retail for $8, which is a really nice price considering the quality.

Up Your GLOW

First off is Up Your GLOW. It's a pinkish-purple cream. Now out of the six Venique nail polishes I have, this is the only one that can use two coats. You can get away with one, but when you look at it closely it's clear that it could use a second coat. Though a thicker coat would rectify the situation, but if you're more into thinner coats I'd think about adding a second. Above is two coats.

Best BEHAVR-ior

It's a matte! A one coat mate! I was surprised when I applied this one for the first time, I wasn't expecting it to be matte. It's a beautiful blue with a hint of green shimmer in it that's not quite as noticeable when it's in its natural matte state, but definitely shines when a top coat is put on.

I'm glad it's one coat, it makes applying a nail polish in a rush an easy thing to do.

My only gripe with this, and it seems to be a trend with blues, is that it has the tendency to stain your nails. Base coat is a must with this one.

Up All NIGHT, Party Till Dawn

 My favorite nail polish form the "Be Brilliant" collection, Up All NIGHT, Party Till Dawn is a metallic purple that is a dream to apply. Removal is simple, no fuss. Wear is good, pretty standard among the brand. Probably has a lot to do with the fact that they're one coat, and don't need a glob of nail polish to be opaque.

Comparison, Up All Night, Party Till Dawn and Sleepy Slippers

The first thing I noticed is its similarity to another Venique nail polish I own. I pulled both polishes out for a comparison, and luckily they're not too similar. Where UAN, PTD is a purple metalic, Sleepy Slippers is a pinkish silver metalic. They're similar, but not exact.

Overall, I'm really beginning to like the brand. The quality is fantastic, the colors beautiful.

*All roducts provided for review

Essie Resort Fling | Swatch

I never saw myself wearing a peach nail color. I always felt like it didn't go well with my skintone. Then I saw Resort Fling. It reminds me of Zoya Cassi, but without the shimmer and leans a little bit on the orange-y side.

Resort Fling is part of the new Resort Collection by Essie. It's a peachy creme shade that leans on the coral side.

I've been wearing it for the past week, and I am loving it. It's perfect for spring, and a good color to bring into summer.

My only complaint with Resort Fling is that it took me three coats to get to a finish that could be considered opaque. Other than, it's great. Just expect to use a little bit more.

What are your favorite spring shades? Have you picked up a shade from the Essie Resort collection?

Venique Nail Lacquer | Review

One. Coat. Wonders. First words about these nail polishes that you will hear grace my lips. I'm not talking one coat is yo apply just a teensy bit more polish than normal, no. I mean opaque like you just emptied the bottle. But you didn't, because you found this little baby.

One coat wonders are underrated, in my opinion. I mean, how fantastic is it to cut the nail drying time AND use less polish? Amazing, let me tell you. That's why I always try and relish my OCWs, and will keep a special place in my nail polish filled heart.

Too dramatic? Maybe. Or maybe this is Venique's way. When the offer to sample these lovelies graced my e-mail, I'll be honest, I was skeptical. But, when I realized that we are in an age where nearly everything is available via internet and UPS, it shouldn't be too difficult to locate these for yourself.

I did a quick search and found a bunch on Amazon and eBay. I'm sure there are other places, but I didn't do to much of an extensive search through the interwebs.

Sleepy Slippers

No chip count: 5 days with top coat, chipping was minimal.

This is my favorite color in the bunch, and the first one that I tried. Sleepy Slippers is a silver metallic shimmer that tends to lean more on the purple side.

Up To My Knees

No chip count: 1 day for the first application (no top coat), and 4 days for the second application.

Up To My Knees is a is a copper metallic with bits of silver and gold shimmer. It's beautiful on the nails, and really compliments my skin tone. Easily the most wearable color that probably would look great on any skin tone.

B-utiful Bold

No chip count: 1 day first application (with top coat)

B-utiful Bold is the color that I was a bit skeptical about. In my experience colors like this tend to be a bit streaky on the first coat. This is where Venique's formula really shines. Not only did it require only one coat, but it also remained streak free. I did notice that it needed a bit more product than the other two (but then again metallics usually are easy to apply on their own), but nothing too bad. It's a bright pink color with a hint of red to it. The above picture is a pretty accurate representation of the true color. As close as I could get it, any way. Brights tend to be a bit difficult to photograph.

Either way, if you do see this brand in a salon check it out. The formula is fantastic, and the colors are beautiful. I wish nail polish like this was more readily available, but sometimes it's nice to have a little treat when entering a salon. They're definitely worth it, in my opinion. Not to mention if you add in the little fact that this is the age of the internet, and nearly anything is at your fingertips, a quick check out away.

How do you feel about nail professional exclusives? Do you think they hold a candle higher than your retail brand, or are they about the same?

PR Sample provided for review

Essie Cocktail Bling | Swatch

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and if you don't celebrate it, I hope you enjoyed your Thursday! I have something simple for you all today; a simple swatch of an old favorite.

I mentioned this color last week or so, and I realized that I never swatched it. So, here is is: the beautiful color that is Essie Cocktail Bling.

I love this muted purple shade. It goes with nearly everything, and is perfect for fall and winter. It wears beautifully, and only needs two coats to be fully opaque. Application is simple, though it's a bit thick (the bottle is nearly two years old now), but not as thick a I was expecting.

I love this color.

Essie The Lace Is On | Swatch

It's been so long since I've swatched a nail polish, and even longer since I've picked one up. I was in Target last week and I spotted this pretty little number; The Lace Is On by Essie. It's from their new Fall 2013 collection.

Wow is this color beautiful. It's a Fuchsia base with what seems like pink, kind of like magenta, shimmer. Very nice, and very easy to apply. It took me two coats to achieve an opaque finish, but one semi-thick coat should do the trick.

The other polishes in this collection are also beautiful, and I hope to pick up a few more. I love the metallic feel of For The Twill Of It, and there's something about Cashmere Bathrobe and Vested Interest that I love. I'm glad to see that not all of these aren't muted, and there are a couple of bright colors to choose from.

What colors do you like to wear in the fall? Are you excited for the season to begin? I am. I love cold weather.

Mark Saffron swatch

Mark Saffron is from the Marrakesh line, and is limited edition. At least I believe it's a line,It comes as a duo along with Mint Tea, which seems like it could be a contender in the Chanel Peridot dupe department.

Saffron, however, is a simple cold color. It's super easy to apply, and the pictures above show only one coat. I love one coat wonders.

Essie Madison Ave-Hue | Swatch

In yesterdays post I expressed concern for the fine glitter. Basically I was worried that it would be like Bikini So Teeny, and the glitter wouldn't show up. As you can plainly see by the swatches below, that is not the case. The glitter isn't obvious, but it is there.

I also want to mention the brush. Has anyone else experienced a wonky brush? There was this one hair that I wanted to pluck off. It's not impossible to work around, but it isn't straight.

 Madison Ave-Hue is part of the Essie 2013 Spring Collection.

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It's a Whirl | Mark

Quick swatch of the Mark Marbelized Lip Gloss. Color shown is Pink Souffle. This lip gloss retails for $8.00.

The colors mix together, obviously, so you get this peachy shimmery color. It's a subtle shine, and a subtle color. Not too dramatic, but it definitely enhances the lips. I think this color would be great for most, if not all, skin tones.

Sorry I'm not very talkative today, I don't have a lot to say! I just like swatching my Avon/Mark products since it's hard for potential to see the product in person before they buy. Hope this helps =)

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Zoya Angel | Swatch

I love this color! I got this with the Zoya promotion a week or so ago, and this and Amber were the two that I was uber excited for. It has a metallic finish, and is such a pretty color when applied to the nails. I actually give it a 4.5 on the scale of opaqueness. It doesn't need that second coat, but it does enhance the color when applied. If you need a recommendation for a Zoya color, I definitely suggest this one. Pictures don't do it justice.

Zoya Angel | The online color isn't accurate to it's shade in real life. Either that or I'm colorblind, or my shade is slightly different. Not entirely impossible.

What's your favorite Zoya shade?

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Julep Boris and Nicole | Swatch

        

Julep Boris and Nicole is a red tinted copper shimmer. The color difference that you see is true to color. When the second coat is applied, the color turns to a more reddish tint. It's a beautiful color, regardless, and perfect for fall.

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China Glaze Foie Gras

I can't believe I never swatched any of the Hunger Games colors yet. Anywho, this one is beautiful. I love neutrals, they compliment any skin tone.

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Mark Star Status Eyeshadow - Earth Angel

L to R: Silver, Bronze, Gold

The Mark Star Status eyeshadow in Earth Angel is a trio with shades of gold, bronze, and silver. They have a shimmery finish. It comes with a duo ended brush; one side is fluffy, the other is flat and thin. This is not a review, I haven't had much of a change to actually wear these. No idea how the longevity of the shadow is, only the opaqueness and how the brush works.

Thoughts

Talk about opaque! Wow, I was not expecting these to be this pigmented. I will say that they transfer pretty well, as in once they are on your fingers they just get everywhere. Obviously you would be using a brush. The image directly above is using the brush that comes with the trio. The fluffy end is a bit meh. I'm not impressed, not that I was expecting anything amazing.  The liner side makes a really fine/thin line, perfect for lining the eyes. I swatched each of the colors using the liner end as well.

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Swatch-A-Thon! | Avon eyeshadow pallets.

Long time so see! Sorry about that, I was sick, and had no desire to blog at all. I come to you today with some Avon eye shadow swatches. These are not mine, they are my moms so I can't do a review on them for you all. I tried to get the swatch itself true to color, and I believe all of them are. The picture of the product may not be 100%, but it's as close as I could get it without having to go outside, if that would even help.

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