In the meantime, I have a couple of Couture Gel Nail Polish swatches to share with you.  Couture is a DIY brand meant for at-home use.  I found that their starter kit is available on Amazon.com at a discount, though I don’t see the individual colors sold there.

These colors are from the Couture Spring 2013 collection.  Application and soak-off were a breeze. The shimmery silver one is called High Maintenance. I wore this for a few days and loved it. It goes with everything and has just the right amount of sparkle for me.

The color below is Glam Squad. This one is the perfect combination of purple and pink. It looks pink next to purples, and purple next to pinks. I really like the uniqueness of the color. My lightbox washed the color out of these photos a bit, and it looks a little more pink than it actually was. I snapped a quick pic of this in regular lighting to try to capture the color a little better.

Contact: Christy Rose

Email: Sales@KBShimmer.com

 KBSHIMMER ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF NINE NEW POLISHES
KBShimmer Summer Polish Line Set For Release June 1^st, 2013

Visit https://www.kbshimmer.com/press-release/ for an online version of this press release that includes pictures suitable for web use.

KBShimmer is excited to announce the addition of 9 new colors to their 3-Free glitter polish line and an expansion to their nail prep line.  Owner Christy Rose says “With warm weather and sandals popping up, June is the perfect time for bright, bold colors and patriotic themes to celebrate a fun and exciting summer.”

The summer lineup includes one glitter top coat, two glitter crellys in a white base and six bright, bold polishes, two in a matte finish.  KBShimmer will also be expanding their nail care line to include two scented cuticle oils and liquid nail prep. “Our new line was created to play off the bolder palette of summer, some inspired by the 80’s and 90s, but also to celebrate the patriotic season. One of our polishes plays off the color of the year, Emerald Green, and will ease people into the summer while two others were inspired by the fall 2013 Pantone colors Koi and Vivacious. Both will make for an easy transition through the summer and into the fall.  We are also excited to unveil two scented cuticle oils in an easy-applicator pen.  We hope to inspire and motivate people to go out in the sun and show off their nails!” says Rose.

KBShimmer– SUMMER 2013 COLLECTION

What’s Your Damage? – White crelly polish with neon green, neon pink, and black glitters.

Don’t Pink Twice –Bright near magenta pink with subtle blue shimmer – matte

24 Carrot Bold –Orange red polish with gold shimmer – matte

Blinded By The Bright – Neon yellow polish with a scattering of hex glitters in the 6 primary and secondary colors

The Dancing Green –A almost neon green with blue undertones, accented by fuchsia, sapphire,  green and chartreuse glitters in different shapes and sizes

Totally Tubular – A blue-green crelly polish with fuchsia circle glitters in two sizes and fuchsia micro slices, aqua circle glitters and sapphire hex glitters.

Totally Razzical – A red-violet shade leaning towards the purple side of raspberry. Loaded with holographic hex glitters in magenta, silver and pink.

Grayscale – Black, White, and Gray glitters are suspended in a clear base. Circles, hexes, rectangles, and squares in so many sizes complete this glitter top coat.

Pimp My Pride – This white based polish features metallic red and blue glitters. Best worn in three coats, or 1-2 coats over your favorite white.

Shipping June 1, 2013

KBShimmer products can be found at Http://www.KBShimmer.com.  For sales outside of the US visit http://www.HarlowandCo.org.

KBShimmer was founded in 2008 by the husband and wife team of Jason and Christy Rose.  KBShimmer offers unique and colorful nail glitter nail polishes that are Big 3 Free, with all glitter formulas being completely free of chemicals such as toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP).  KBShimmer glitter polishes feature a flat glitter grabbing brush for easy application.  KBShimmer also offers a 2-free quick dry polish top coat, olive oil lotion, sugar scrubs, lip balms, cold process soaps and other skin care products.

###

If you would like more information about KBShimmer, contact Christy Rose by emailing sales@kbshimmer.com or visting Http://www.KBShimmer.com.

© 2013 KBShimmer. All rights reserved

Nail Polish Canada sent me some NCLA Designer Nail Wraps to try.  The two designs that I chose are called It Doesn’t Matter and So L.A.  You can view all of the different designs on the Nail Polish Canada website.  Each package includes 44 nail wraps of various sizes.  I think the concept of nail wraps is great because they allow anyone to add intricate art to their nails with minimal time and skill.

Today I decided to try out the random black and white patterns in the It Doesn’t Matter set.  This was only my second time trying nail wraps, so I’m still an amateur.  I consulted the instructions and it certainly sounded easy…

… and it was! These strips were great to work with!   I cleaned my nails with an alcohol wipe and then applied a clear base coat and let it dry.  I studied the wraps to determine which sizes might work best with each of my nails.  My nails are a bit narrow, but there was such a wide variety of sizes that I was able to find a wrap to fit each of them without having to do any trimming around the edges.  BONUS… NO TRIMMING!!!  I applied the wraps to each nail, carefully smoothing them out to eliminate any air bubbles.  (In the photos you can see some bubbling on my index finger, but it’s not noticeable in person unless you look very closely.) My nails are also very curvy, and these wraps stuck from edge to edge without any lifting.  The wraps are also long enough to accommodate pretty long nails. I had a lot of excess hanging off the tip, which I filed off with the nail file that came in the package.  And finally, I topped each nail off with a clear top coat.

I’m very pleased with the final result… what do you think?

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On my ring finger and thumb I started with two coats of Sheek White and used a dotting tool to draw on the different colored stripes (only one coat for the stripes).  For the French tips, I applied two coats of white, but only on the tips this time.  I applied two coats of color to the tips leaving some space to give the appearance of a white outline.  I applied one coat of Emerald Dust to each nail, and used a dotting tool to draw on a couple of small hearts.  I applied one thin coat of Gelish Top It Off, and viola!

I really love how this turned out… they’re bright and fun, and sparkly too!  The official Gelish FB page announced that they are having a “Summer Brights” nail art challenge.  Post your best “bright” manicure using Gelish polish to their FB feed by May 21st and they will feature their top 5 picks!  I’m definitely going to submit this one, and I can’t wait to see what other creations people come up with.

Brights Have More Fun vs. Shake It Til You Samba… not much difference here.  Brights Have More Fun is just slightly lighter/brighter, but I don’t see the need for owning both of these since they’re so close.  Shake It Til You Samba is probably my pick of the two because it has a great formula and offers full coverage with just two coats.

Sometimes A Girl’s Gotta Glow is seen here on the index finger and pinky… it’s pretty different from the other greens in the Rio Neon and Candyland collections.  It’s my fav of the three.

Sorry, I cheated on this one since my nails need a little break after all of the swatching.    Radiance is My Middle Name is closest to Garden Teal Party, but again is a few shades lighter.  Garden Teal Party has better coverage with no visible nail line, but Radiance has a better formula…. it’s a toss up.  I love blues, and really like these both.  Radiance is so bright and fun.  I’ve been wearing it for 2 days now and plan to keep it on the rest of the week (that’s a long time for me).

Are there any other comparisons you’d like to see?  I can take a few photos with my swatch sticks if I have the colors you’re curious about.

I am happy to tell you that the formula of these polishes is improved from some of the previous collections.  They aren’t thick and I didn’t experience any wrinkling or curing issues… and I actually tried to get them to wrinkle by applying some thicker layers.  I checked my swatches for fading after about 24 hours and didn’t notice any changes in the colors.  My only complaint about the formula is that the colors didn’t apply as evenly as I would have liked and required three coats each for even coverage.  With that said, I think they are all brilliant colors.  I’ve been wearing Radiance Is My Middle Name (teal) today, and LOVE it!

If you love these colors and would like a chance to win the whole collection, check out my giveaway!!

Make You Blink Pink reminds me of a Barbie!  It’s a super bright pink unlike any other by Gelish.

Brights Have More Fun is a darker hot pink.  It’s very similar to Shake It Til You Samba, but it’s slightly lighter & brighter.

I’m Brighter Than You is a vivid coral/peach color.  This one is similar to Sweet Morning Dew, but is also lighter and brighter.

Sometimes A Girl’s Gotta Glow is a brilliant lime green.  I will compare this to Amazon Flirt and You’re Such a Sweet-Tart.

Radiance is My Middle Name is a bright teal color.  As I mentioned, I’ve been wearing this all day and absolutely love it.  I will compare this with Garden Teal Party, though it’s visibly brighter.

You Glare, I Glow is an electric shade of purple unlike any other by Gelish.

What do you think!? Are you as in love with these bright colors as I am?

I can’t believe it’s been a year already!!  Chickettes.com is one year old today, and to celebrate I’m having the best giveaway a girl could imagine!  I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that my all time favorite gel polish brand has agreed to sponsor a giveaway…  Gelish® MINI is going to send the winner a stash of goodies that will make them GLOW with excitement!

The Prizes -  Over $200 value!!

ONE lucky winner will receive ALL of the following:

1) A complete All About the Glow Gelish MINI collection.  The six colors in the collection are (view my swatches here):

• Sometimes A Girl’s Gotta Glow: Brilliant lime green
• Radiance Is My Middle Name: Vibrant teal
• You Glare, I Glow: Electric purple
• Brights Have More Fun: Hot pink
• Make You Blink Pink: Light pink
• I’m Brighter Than You: Vivid coral

2) A Gelish Mini Pro LED Curing Light

3) A Gelish Mini Basix Kit, which includes:

• Mini Gelish Ph Bond
• Mini Gelish Foundation
• Mini Gelish Top It Off
• Mini Gelish Nourish
• Mini Gelish Cleanser
• Mini Gelish Artificial Nail Remover

The Rules

• The giveaway begins today, May 10th and will run through May 19th.
• Entries will be collected via Rafflecopter only.
• The winner will be selected randomly via Rafflecopter and announced on May 20th.
• The winner will be notified via email, and will have 48 hours to claim the prize or a new winner will be selected.
• This giveaway is only open in the United States. The winner must be able to provide a valid US shipping address (no P.O. boxes).
• Entries will be verified.
• The Sponsor will be responsible for product shipment/delivery.

GOOD LUCK!

Gelish® MINI products are available exclusively at Sally Beauty Supply stores nationwide and online at sallybeauty.com. Follow Gelish® MINI on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and on Instagram (@GelishMINI).

Gelish® MINI comes in an array of colors, applies like polish, with a twist cap and applicator, but are cured in an LED lamp for 30 seconds or in two minutes with a traditional UV lamps, just like gels. Gelish® MINI stays on the nail for up to three weeks of beautiful wear, with no chipping or peeling. Gelish MINI® soaks off completely in only 15 minutes. For more information, please visit www.gelishminis.com.

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