Thursday, June 7, 2018

Kbshimmer: Wanderlust Collection

The collection's namesake, wanderlust, is a strong desire to travel. After returning from a recent west coast trip, Christy came back inspired. The laid-back vibe of Ventura, California allowed her to relax, do a lot of crafting, discover new foods, and places. The seaside location was full of nature, calming beaches, and good times with friends.
Let the first Wanderlust collection by KBShimmer take you to the West coast shore, nail polish style. It launches at 11am Central time on June 15th, 2018.

xoxoJen's swatches of KBShimmer Wanderlust Collection

Each polish is shown with two coats and topcoated with kbshimmer Clearly On Top unless otherwise noted. Formulas were all fantastic!

Wander-ful World - Wandering the world, be it by car, plane, or cruise ship, can be so exciting. Wander-ful world was inspired by the vibrant fashions and showy pink flowers of California. This electric shade of magenta pink is full of linear holographic pigment for a flashy manicure perfect for your next trip, be it to the grocery store or across the country.

This polish had me at hello. The rainbow is so vibrant and the shade of pink is perfection.

xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Wander-ful World
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Wander-ful WorldxoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Wander-ful World


Hakuna Moscato - California is known for amazing wine, and Moscato with its sweet, slightly bubbly flair was the perfect inspiration for this shimmery polish. Blushing rose gold micro flakes surround a scattering of micro holographic glitter, for an effervescent shade that will leave you thirsty for more. This polish builds up in 2-3 coats, or layer over your favorite shade to add a golden hue to your nails.

Slightly sheer, this is shown in three coats. I love the purplish hue that can be seen at some angles.

xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Hakuna Moscato
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Hakuna Moscato
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Hakuna Moscato


Meet Me At The Barre- When gathering with friends, the local bar is often the first place that is suggested, but with so many trying for a more active lifestyle, meeting at the barre for a workout might happen too! This pale pink shade has hints of coral, for a flattering pastel that will amp up the look of your summer tan.

Pastel neon pink is such a difficult shade to capture accurately on camera, but I think I got pretty close!

xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Meet Me At The Barre
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Meet Me At The Barre
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Meet Me At The Barre
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Meet Me At The Barre
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Meet Me At The Barre


Cactus If You Can – The plant life in California is breathtaking, especially to someone that lives in the Midwest. This soft green shade is inspired by one of the best water conserving plants, the cactus. A soft pink shimmer and micro holo sparks, soften up this prickly polish.

Love the color combo here, perfection in a bottle!

xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Cactus If You Can
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Cactus If You Can
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Cactus If You Can


Don’t Fear The Reefer – It is a sweet smell that many recognize from their college days. Now baked into brownies, made into candy, and available in several states. This once outlawed plant is now sold across California and inspired this minty aqua green shade. Loaded with linear holographic pigment, this is one far out polish that will not leave your manicure half-baked.

Akin to Wander-ful World, the holo in this packs a punch! Don't let that bright blue flame fool you, this polish really is green.

xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Don’t Fear The Reefer
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Don’t Fear The Reefer
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Don’t Fear The Reefer


Now and Zen – Walking down the coast with the waves crashing, the gulls flying, and dogs running is the ideal way to center yourself for the day. This ocean inspired polish starts with a calming blue base. A color shifting shimmer takes this polish from blue, to aqua to lavender depending on the angle and lighting, while loads of micro holo flakes add a unique touch to the peaceful hue.

That glowy shifting shimmer is everything ya'll. I captured it the best I could, but definitely head over to youtube to find a video. Stills just don't do it justice.

xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Now and Zen
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Now and Zen
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Now and Zen
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Now and Zen


Succ It Up - As a lover of succulents, it was amazing to see them growing outside! The many types of succulents with their luscious shades of green, pink, purple and blue inspired this shimmery purple polish. Holo micro flakes give this hue some sparkle, while a blue green shimmer completes this hip polish.

Cousin to Now and Zen, the glowy flash in this is amazing! Again, look for a video of this, stills just cannot capture its beauty.

xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Succ It Up
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Succ It Up
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Succ It Up


Rise and Grind – Did you know that California has four of the top 15 coffee consuming cities in the US? No wonder it was easy to find people with a cup of Joe in their hands or in lines, waiting for baristas to fresh grind beans for the perfect cup. Rise and Grind is a nod to those coffee lovers who enjoy a splash of milk, tall lattes or iced coffees. A lightened brown, this linear holographic polish is the perfect deep neutral. So grab a cup and enjoy this coffee inspired shade!

Gah. What more is there to say really? This is the perfect shade and my favorite in the collection. The holo in it is insanely beautiful.

xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Rise and Grind
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Rise and Grind
xoxoJen's swatch of KBShimmer Rise and Grind

The Wanderlust collection launches 06/15/18 at noon at the kbshimmer.com website. Have you decided which ones to get? Lemme help ya out, just get them all. You'll be glad you did!

Monday, June 4, 2018

BaronessX: Bodhi Tree

Rummaging through photos on my hard drive I found this beauty that I hadn't shared yet. It was included as a gift some time ago when I made a purchase and I wore it right away, but was stacked with reviews to do, so it just didn't get posted until now. :)

BaronessX Bodhi Tree is a beautiful medium lavender shimmer with flecks of blue in it. I wore two coats with kbshimmer Clearly On Top topcoat, for a glossy finish and wear like iron.

xoxoJen's swatch of BaronessX: Bodhi Tree
xoxoJen's swatch of BaronessX: Bodhi Tree
xoxoJen's swatch of BaronessX: Bodhi Tree

The polish is no longer available, but give her site a visit to find many more beautiful polishes!

I hope you've enjoyed the review and photos. Tell me what your favorite BX polish is in the comments!

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Girly Bits: Sparrow of the Dawn

Sparrow of the Dawn is the newest addition to the Girly Bits Concert Series, which started a number of years ago as a way to pay tribute to Pam's favourite bands and catalogue the concerts she attends. Pam describes the polishes as "A colourful soundtrack" of her taste in music.

Sparrow of the Dawn is deep navy base, with a strong green-copper-pink multi-chrome shift, and a heavy dose of tiny holo glitters. It is 5 Free, cruelty free, and vegan friendly.

What an amazingly shifty polish! She's not shy, no contortionist poses going on here. I wore two coats with topcoat for photos.

xoxoJen's swatch of Girly Bits: Sparrow of the Dawn
xoxoJen's swatch of Girly Bits: Sparrow of the Dawn
xoxoJen's swatch of Girly Bits: Sparrow of the Dawn
xoxoJen's swatch of Girly Bits: Sparrow of the Dawn
xoxoJen's swatch of Girly Bits: Sparrow of the Dawn

Sparrow Of The Dawn is available now at the Girly Bits website
Below is more information from Pam about the polish's inspiration.

Late spring/early summer of 2017, I started hearing this new song called Highway Tune on a local radio station (WRIF in Detroit) It really grabbed my attention. It was a band that I had never heard of before, but they sounded like well seasoned musicians and I was really digging their vibe. So I started looking into this band called Greta Van Fleet. It turns out, they are a group of young (and I mean YOUNG) guys from Frankenmuth Michigan. The singer is Josh Kiszka, and his twin brother is guitarist Jake Kiszka (22 yrs old). Younger brother Sam Kiszka (18) plays bass, and their friend Danny Wagner (19) is on drums. When I first started following them last year, the two youngest ones were still in high school and they had a mere 13K followers on IG.

They gained a ton of traction last summer/fall, and have been on a whirlwind of a tour since. Their debut tune topped Billboard for 4 weeks. They have had a meteoric rise to fame touring with The Struts, and have opened for many big names artists including Bob Segar and G&R. They have played at numerous festivals like Coachella, and had the honour of receiving a personal invitation to play at Elton John’s Academy Award party. Their tour dates have been non-stop since last summer. When they first began rising in popularity, they didn’t even have an album out. They STILL don’t. They put out their studio debut EP in April of 2017, and then a double EP in Nov 2017 which contains 4 new songs, plus the original 4. We first saw them perform in MI at Pine Knob (DTE Energy Music Theatre) in September at RIFF Fest. I was BLOWN away. I saw them again at St Andrew’s Hall (In MI again) in December. By that time, it was getting hard to get tickets to their shows before they sold out. The first show at St. Andrew’s Hall sold out and they announced a second show which also sold out. I had purchased both CD’s and was mildly obsessed =) We obtained tickets to see them two more times. One at Rock on the Range in Ohio, and one at the Fillmore in Detroit. Both in May. (repeat- mildly obsessed) The show at the Fillmore sold out in seconds. Literally. And fans were NOT happy. They announced two more shows at the Fillmore back to back and they both sold out immediately. I was lucky enough to score 2 tickets to the 2nd show.

Back track to the show at St Andrew’s Hall in December. I already had Sparrow of the Dawn planned, but not a release date. I KNEW I had to honour my new favourite band. The song that really made me fall in love with GVF is Flower Power, and Sparrow of the Dawn is taken from those lyrics.

We had VIP tickets to that show, mostly because that was all that was available when I purchased. VIP has their own level, and their own bar and washroom area. I went to the washroom right before GVF came on stage, and as luck would have it I ran into Josie Wagner, sister of the drummer. We chatted a bit, snapped a selfie, and I told her about my plans for Sparrow of the Dawn. I asked her if she would like to see the samples and help in the choosing of the final colour. She was very excited about that! We exchanged contact info, and chatted about colour and finish etc, and I sent her some samples, from which she chose her favourite. I was heavily inspired by the cover art from their EP From the Fires, and chose to go with a multi-chrome to go with their retro 70’s vibe.

These guys are the next big thing. I guarantee it. They have been featured in Rolling Stone and a bunch of other mags. It's crazy. (mildly obsessed)
Here is a link to an acoustic performance of the song that hooked me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOi5fFCSoA0&feature=youtu.be
And here is their breakout hit Highway Tune. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJg4OJxp-co