Swatch and Review: daniPro Nail Polish

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have some polishes from a new to me brand called daniPro to share with you. I was contacted by a PR company that specializes in doing promotions and campaigns for nail polish and other cosmetic brands to swatch and review 3 polishes and a topcoat from daniPro. 

daniPro is a uniquely formulated nail polish brand that was originally created by a doctor,  Dr. Gary Evans. It is 5-free and has undecylenic acid added for the prevention of nail fungus growth. I haven't used it enough nor have I struggled with nail infections so I can't speak to its effectiveness in that department but that certainly makes it a different kind of lacquer! I have a ton of pictures to share and a live swatch video linked below so let's jump in! 

Forever Girl is the newest shade by daniPro and was launched in Spring 2016. It is marketed as the perfect shade of pink for spring. While I would agree that the shade is beautiful and perfect for spring, the formula on this one was awful for me. Very streaky from the first coat all the way through the third. It could have used a fourth coat but I do not do four coats of any polish so I skipped it. The topcoat helped smooth out the streakiness a bit. I find most polishes in this color range to have difficult formulas so I wasn't surprised that this one was streaky and didn't want to self level. Dry time was about 5 minutes for it to be dry to the touch despite how many coats it took. I would describe Forever Girl as having a more crelly than creme formula. I'm sorry to say that Forever Girl was a forever nope for me. :/

Perfect Pink is what I would call a bright medium pink creme. While the formula was still a little on the crelly side, it was more of a creme than Forever Girl was. I did 3 coats of Perfect Pink and unlike Forever Girl, Perfect Pink did not need a fourth coat. For this reason, I will say the formula is *better* but still not my favorite. The first coat was very streaky for me but the second and third evened it out. Dry time was about 5 minutes to the touch despite it needing 3 coats. I was pleasantly surprised with the color of Perfect Pink since the bottle made it look a little more mauve-y than it shows on the nail.

First Kiss Red is a bright cherry red with orange undertones that makes it the perfect shade of red for the summer. This one completely blew the others out of the water and exceeded my expectations. The formula was absolute perfection only needing one super easy and creamy coat for complete opacity. I had no staining from First Kiss Red despite it being a OCW (one coat wonder) and I wore it for 3 days because I wound up doing nail art over it. I had no issues with self leveling and this one was definitely dry to the touch in 5 minutes. 

The final polish I reviewed was the topcoat which was just called Top Cover. While it is not marketed as a quick dry topcoat, I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly it dried. It was dry to the touch in a minute and a half. As far as wear time, I can't speak to that as I was only swatching and didn't wear it for more than just a few minutes but the glossiness was unreal and dry time was much faster than expected. 

If you'd like to see my live swatch and review, click below:

Final thoughts on daniPro - I think the concept is interesting and definitely sets it aside from your typical nail lacquer. The formulas for the pinks were disappointing but the red and the topcoat were phenomenal. I am a little put off by the price ($18 per bottle for colors and topcoat, $20 for the base coat) which puts it up there between Butter London and Deborah Lippman price ranges. I don't want to pay that much for nail polish unless its fabulous and has a flawless formula. The only one out of the bunch that I would pay that much for is First Kiss Red because its absolutely perfect. I also really didn't care for the brush as it was very thin, think like Essie brush skinny. I had to do way too many brush strokes for coverage on my nail.

If you're interested in knowing more or purchasing some daniPro nail polishes, you can find them at danipronails.com or on Instagram. 

Thanks for reading!

Swatch and Review: Lolita Lacquer Trollita Duo

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have some swatches for Lolita Lacquer to share with you! This time its for the Trollita Duo which is inspired by the Troll dolls from the 90's. Y'all remember those, right? Where are my 90's babies at?! These two polishes are true to the inspiration and super fun. Let me show you!

Beady Eyes is a milky white crelly base filled with gold and black hex glitter, gold and black circle glitter, and black and gold micro glitter. The formula on Beady Eyes is sheer due to it being a white crelly but it went on for me in 3 coats. I did have to manipulate some of the glitter towards the tip of my nail but I didn't have to do any crazy fishing around for glitter and it was relatively easy to get it where I wanted it. It dried to a glossy finish on its own but due to the amount of glitter, I did apply two layers of topcoat to smooth it out completely. 

Belly Button is a clear based glitter topper filled with every glitter imaginable - hearts, stars, triangles, hexes, diamonds - all in multicolored holographic form. I typically stay away from glitter toppers but this one is spot on for the inspiration and totally felt like a party on my nails. I did have to invert the bottle a few times to get the glitter on the brush so that was moderately frustrating but the base is very thin on this polish so the glitter can sink a little. Its a trade off for me though because I dislike glitter toppers that are in thick bases. Once I inverted the bottle, I was able to apply Belly Button in two coats and tons of glitter came out. I really loved it over black! 

If you'd like to see my live review on Youtube, click below. 

The Trollita Duo from Lolita Lacquer launches tomorrow, Friday the 13th at 10am PST in the Lolita Lacquer store. The duo retails for $14 or you can get each polish for $8. My bottles are minis, just for swatching purposes but the ones for sale will be full sized bottles. You can see more swatches on Lolita Lacquer's Instagram as well. 

Did you have Troll dolls growing up? Which was your favorite? 

Thanks for reading!

Swatch and Review: LynBDesigns Staycation Collection

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have the Staycation Collection from LynBDesigns to share with you. This 9 piece collection consists of 8 cremes and 1 glitter topper. Each of the creme shades is a pastel or "bleached" neon color which is super fun for the upcoming summer season and the glitter topper is a fun addition to the collection! I have a ton of photos to share with you so I'm going to jump right in to the swatches. 

Oahu is a pastel magenta creme. I did have to add a few drops of thinner to this one because it was on the thicker side and somewhat difficult to apply to my nail. After the thinner it applied much easier in two coats - one thin coat and one thicker coat. Oahu has more of a crelly formula than a creme formula so it applied patchy on the first coat and leveled out on the second coat. All of my photos show two coats plus KBShimmer Clearly On Top quick dry topcoat.

Rio is a pastel pink neon creme that rivals the pinkest of Barbie pinks. I added a few drops of thinner to this one as well due to it being on the thicker side. Rio also has a crelly formula so the first coat is streaky and the second coat makes it opaque and the topcoat levels it out. All of my photos show two coats plus topcoat.

Miami is a soft coral neon creme. The color of Miami reminds me a lot of photos of China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy that I have seen. I don't own it personally to compare but its at least similar in color. Miami was also on the thicker side but a few drops of thinner fixed it right up. Despite some formula issues, Miami made it to my top 3 favorites of this collection. I applied it in one thin coat and one thick coat as I did the others and the topcoat leveled it out. My photos show two coats plus topcoat. 

Cabo is a pastel orange neon creme that reminds me of a creamsicle pop. Cabo needed a couple of drops of thinner as well but applied in two coats and smoothed out with topcoat. Cabo was another favorite for me - I usually don't love oranges or yellows against my skin tone but this one looked lovely. My photos show two coats plus topcoat. 

Bondi is a pastel yellow neon creme that is super vibrant and in your face bright. Bondi had a great formula for me - still a crelly formula but smooth and not thick at all. I applied one thin coat that was a bit patchy but leveled out and became opaque on the second coat. All of my photos show two coats plus topcoat. 

Santorini is a pastel green neon creme. Formula and application were like Bondi - smooth and not thick at all. Santorini is still more like a crelly than a true creme but it applied in two coats for full opacity. All of my photos show two coats plus topcoat. 

Ibiza is a pastel blue neon creme. Y'all....YOU GUYS. This one is my number one favorite - but those of you that have followed me for a while would have already guessed that. Ibiza is blue and blue nail polish = the best nail polish. Ibiza's formula was identical to Santorini and Bondi - a crelly like formula but opaque in two coats. All of my photos show two coats plus topcoat. 

Eluthera is a pastel purple neon creme. It is the final creme in this collection and rounds out the full ROYGBIV color spectrum nicely. Eluthera a nice and easy crelly like formula. All of my photos show two coats plus topcoat. 

Bora Bora is a clear galaxy holo topper. It was a bit tricky to catch on camera as it is very scattered and subtle but in person, its a beautiful chameleon - looking iridescent in artificial light but catching the fire of the holo in direct sun. I applied one coat over black in my photos and added topcoat. 

If you're interested in seeing the live swatch and review I did on this collection you can click below to head to my Youtube channel:

Overall thoughts on this collection are: the first half of the collection was a bit tricky for me and required a few drops of thinner but I've seen other reviews of this collection and most of the other ladies reviewing it didn't seem to have the same issues that I did. It is possible that maybe my bottles were slightly open during shipping and thats why they were thicker. Either way - the colors are gorgeous and the second half of the collection performed well for me. If this is your first neon collection - the pinks and the orange may be frustrating to apply if yours are like mine. I do have to say that Jennalyn of LynBDesigns has incredible customer service and I can rest assured knowing that if I had purchased this collection on my own and was unhappy with it that she would do everything to rectify the problem. Last thing to mention - these dry super fast. I mean, lightening fast. 5 minutes or less so unfortunately they do not water marble but the plus side is that you don't have to wait a long time for them to be dry. And I think that's it for my final thoughts. 

If you'd like to pick up this collection, they will retail for $6 each or $50 with free shipping (US only) for the entire 9 piece collection. The Staycation Collection launches May 6th, 2016 at 7pm EST in the LynBDesigns store. You can also follow LynBDesigns on Instagram and Facebook for more swatches or join us in the LynBLoves Facebook group for exclusive looks into further collections and news about current sales and collections. 

Thanks for reading,