Some New Barielle Shades - Swatches and Comparisons

Barielle has added something like 90 new shades to their lineup, and I ordered four of them a couple of weeks ago. Once they arrived, I realized that I had somewhat similar colors in my stashes for three of them, so I did some comparisons. Here we go.

First up is Lilly of the Valley. It's a little sheer, but it built up okay after three coats. The formula is decent - a little on the watery side, but nothing horrible.

This reminded me a lot of FingerPaints Sketch N Etch. As you can see in this pic, they're not exactly dupes, but they are pretty close. Overall, I like Sketch N Etch better. I feel like the color is deeper, and the fact that it's slightly cooler makes it more wearable for me.

Next is Island Breeze. The formula on this one was better than Lilly of the Valley. It's opaque in two coats.

The closest thing I own to Island Breeze is Orly Bailamos. Bailamos is lighter, but these polishes are definitely cousins.

Then we have Sky's the Limit. Great formula, two coats, no complaints.

The interesting thing about Sky's the Limit is that it's nearly identical to FingerPaints Artistic Azure, which is one of my very, very favorite blues, and which is now discontinued. If you've had a yen for Artistic Azure, this could be a great replacement for it. They are even more alike in person than they look in this picture.

And finally, End of the Rainbow. Sadly, I am not a fan of this one at all. It was still patchy and kind of transparent at three coats, and it's frostier than it looks in these pictures. One of my friends said that it looked better layered over black and that it may look good layered over a darker teal, so I guess I'll try that before tossing it in the swap box. But on its own... yeah, not thrilling.

Overall, I guess I'm a little disappointed. They aren't bad, exactly, but they certainly aren't unique. The formula on them wasn't good enough to make me really want to chose them over the other similar colors I own. I'll probably keep Sky's the Limit just because Artistic Azure is discontinued and I love it so much. I'm afraid the others are probably destined for my swap box.

I hope these comparisons and swatches are helpful! Thanks for reading. =)

Barielle Elle's Spell

I actually managed to put on a red polish this time! Can you guys believe it?! =D

Elle's Spell was originally released as part of Barielle's 2010 Holiday Hustle collection. Elle's Spell is multi-colored flakies in a red jelly base. The base is relatively sheer, so I layered it over a deep red shimmer, Zoya Blair. What you see here is two coats of Elle's Spell over one coat of Blair.

The formula is great, and it doesn't get much prettier than this. It feels so incredibly festive!

I understand that Elle's Spell can reach opacity on its own with about 3-4 coats. I just wanted to see what it would look like over a red shimmer, and I wasn't disappointed.

I've also seen pictures over it layered over black and dark purples that were drool worthy. I'll probably try it over Orly Wild Wisteria next time I wear it. 

I'm seriously considering making this my Christmas mani this year. I was planning on something like China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses, but I'm torn since wearing this one!

Barielle polishes are available at Barielle's website, as well as Transdesign, which ships internationally. Some shades were being sold at Ulta for a while, but my Ulta doesn't have them anymore. =\

Happy Friday, folks! 

Barielle Slate of Affairs

Barielle Slate of Affairs is an incredibly rich slate blue with very subtle blue shimmer. I absolutely love these greyed out type shades. They just feel so classy and chic to me. 

The shimmer isn't super evident on the nail, but I can see just a hint of shimmer. It does add depth to the polish though, rather than just being a flat creme (not hating on cremes, I love them too!).

The formula was good, though a bit on the thin side. I probably could have gotten away with two coats if I'd been in a hurry, but since I wasn't in a hurry and I wanted to make sure it would look good in the pics, I did three. Dry time was good, even with three coats.

I took a couple of pics with flash to try to capture the shimmer.

And then a couple in direct sun.

It's absolutely lovely. If you like blues or greyed out shades, I'd say this is a must have. =)


In other news, 40 followers! Thank you all so much for reading my blog and looking at my pictures. It sure beats talking to myself! =D

Nail Mail!

When I got back into town last night after two straight weeks with my sweet and amazing husband, I had four packages waiting for me. One was more jewelry supplies, yay! And the other three were awesome polish packages! They didn't make up for my sadness at being apart from my DH again, but they at least perked me up a little bit.

First up was an awesome RAOK (random act of kindness) from my friend Jen over at Spaz & Squee! Most of these have been on my wishlist for quite some time, and I'm sooo excited to have them in my grabby little hands! The nail polish world is not without its drama, but I will never stop being amazed and grateful for the kindness and generosity that most of us share with each other. Thank you, my Nail Bed Twin! *squish*

Then I had another swap package from my friend Aleksandra at Hedonism, Ltd., one of which was my NOTD that I posted earlier. I seriously love these Colour Alike polishes, and I will always jump on the chance to swap for more of them! Love, love, love!

And last but not least, my two Barielles that I ordered during the Haute Look promo a few weeks ago!

Hooray for Nail Mail! ^_^