xoxo, Jen

Friday, January 24, 2014

Feature Friday!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Nire's Desire: Revel and Anam Cara

One Product provided for review, one product purchased by xoxojen.

Debbie from The Crumpet blog posted a swatch of Revel to her facebook page and I bought it so fast that the Road Runner would have missed it! Revel was so stonking gorgeous, that I had to have my own bottle!

I had not heard of Nire's Desire polishes before Debbie blogged them, so I was excited to try a new brand and even more excited when Erin offered to send another polish to me for review.
Random: I also just now realized that Erin's name is spelled backward for her brand - Nire's. How neat!

Revel is a grape juice colored one coat holographic polish. Yes, its a one coater folks! I must admit I do apply polish in fairly thick coats, so if you use thin coats it might take two coats. The formula is fluid and very easy to apply. During application the polish stays wet enough that you can paint the whole nail then go down the middle again to even it out. I had very little clean up and that makes for a happy Jen! I like the square bottle and vinyl labels too. The front has the brand name and the back label shows the color name. Beautiful polish, excellent formula, and pretty packaging - what more could a gal want?
xoxoJen Nire's Desire Revel

Then there was Anam Cara, oh how I love thee! Anam Cara was provided for review and sent along with my Revel order. Its a blue leaning medium purple, nearly a periwinkle color with green shimmer in it that shifts to hot pink under lower lighting. The formula and application are stellar, just like Revel's. I shot this photo series with CFL bulbs which seem to have washed out the beautiful shimmer somewhat, but you can see it glowing wildly in the bottle. Its like that on the nail too!

Did you know that Anam Cara is an Irish term roughly translated "Soul Friend" - sort of like a soul mate but a friend. So, Erin made this one for her best friend who just moved away. The purple speaks of passion, love and happiness while the green gives it a Celtic flair. Do you have that special someone that you always feel close to, no matter how far apart you are?
xoxoJen Nire's Desire Anam Cara

If you like what you see here, have a look in her shop. Nire's Desire is definitely on my 'must have all the polish' list! You should also ~~stalk~~ follow Nire's Desire's facebook page so you can keep up with new releases and other news from the brand!

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Shimmer Polish

Products provided for review.

Ringing in the new year with sparkle and shimmer! Appropriate for a first post of the year, yeah?
I'm so excited to have the opportunity to wear and share Shimmer Polish with you!
My interactions with Cindy from Shimmer have been awesome! She shipped really fast and all of the polishes she chose for me are beautiful, shimmery and super sparkly.

She draws her inspiration from many things and even has an inspiration board on her blog! Cindy describes her inspirations for us in the following quote:

My polishes are named after my wonderful friends and family. Each and every name has an important significance to me. Each shade of Shimmer is inspired by that person, from favorite colors, things that are reminiscent of that person, and even personal requests from these great ladies. Each and everyone of my Shimmers have shaped and influenced me to become who I am today. In a way, this is my tribute and gratitude towards having so many amazing people in my life.

Starting off with my namesake, Jennifer, was a must. Packed with periwinkle, soft blue, copper and black, the glitter floats loftily in a clear base. The listing for this polish says that some bottles also contain black glitter, mine did. I layered one coat of Jennifer over Vivid Lacquer's Bettie Sage for a nice contrast. I love purple and green so how could I resist doing a variation with periwinkle and mint? I am so happy she sent this one to me, it makes my heart smile, and I can say I'm wearing myself. xD
xoxoJen and Shimmer Polish Jennifer

Nichole is a very patriotic glitter mix of red, blue and silver so I wore one coat over Revlon Powder Puff to add white into the mix! Nichole will make a great July 4th and Labor Day polish, don't ya think? How about for the various Flag Days celebrated in the United Kingdom? Or perhaps Norway? Did you know there are 35 flags that contain red, white, and blue? How cool is that!
xoxoJen and Shimmer Polish Nichole

As soon as I saw the name Jasmine and the seafoamy color of the polish I immediately thought of Princess Jasmine from Disney's Aladdin movie. I almost wore this over black to add in the hair color but then that urge to pair green with purple took over! Jasmine is one coat layered over Revlon Modern Grace. I was surprised at how ethereal and calming these looked when paired together, like they were made for each other!
xoxoJen and Shimmer Polish Jasmine

Celine, ohhh Celine how sexy are you!? Instant jelly glitter sandwich! I was very impressed with how opaque this became in only two coats, and how the glitter looks suspended in the polish on the nail! Its super squishy and has a glass-like shine. This may be my sexy Valentine's day mani!
xoxoJen and Shimmer Polish Celine

Wikipedia says, "Cleo is a given name that is short for Cleopatra or Cleophalus and an alternate spelling of Clio. It is a Greek prefix often translated to mean 'pride', 'fame' or 'glory'."

Quite suitable for this spectacular polish! My jaw dropped when I saw it! Stonking gorgeous! Its like Clarins 230's supercharged sister! So much sparkle floating and flittering in there that magical butterflies and fairies MUST have made it! The holographic and iridescent sparkles shift with every movement, its surreal! I wore two coats over Hit Polish Chianti to match the wine tinted base of Cleo.
xoxoJen and Shimmer Polish Cleo

Bonus photo, how could I not?
I see what you did thar, ring finger!
xoxoJen and Shimmer Polish

I am happy to have "Shimmy Shimmer in my life!" Thanks so much to Cindy for allowing me to try these beauties! Every polish went on very easily. No finessing or dabbing, regular swipes of the brush applied the glitter evenly and in abundance.

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I hope you've all enjoyed reading and will share it with your friends!

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