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: My World Sparkles Lacquer - Black Opal

Hey y'all! I took a little bit of a hiatus for the holidays and because my nails were in pretty rough shape for some reason but I'm back with my first post of 2016 to share a new polish by My World Sparkles Lacquer. This little beauty is called Black Opal and I have a ton of pictures to share with you, so lets get started! 

Black Opal is a gorgeous black jelly polish with various sized multichrome flakes running throughout. I'm sure you guys have seen the shattered glass nail art floating around on social media, right? Black Opal reminds me of that but in micro form all contained in one bottle! My swatch shows 2 coats plus topcoat. The application was easy though the formula was a bit on the thicker side. It also self leveled across my nail nicely. I had no issues getting the flakes out and they dispersed across my nail evenly. Overall, a beautiful polish with a great formula. 

Black Opal in direct artificial lighting

Macro of Black Opal

Being that its a jelly, Black Opal was begging to be mattified so mattify I did! I used OPI Matte Topcoat to showcase all of the beautiful multi chrome micro flakes in Black Opal. It totally transformed the look! 

Black Opal with matte topcoat in direct artificial lighting

Macro of Black Opal with matte topcoat 

Macro brush shot of Black Opal 

 I did a bit of nail art using Black Opal while doing a mani swap with @craftyandpolished, too! I love how it looked in this classy negative space mani! I wound up wearing this for several days because it was so beautiful.

The last thing I have to share with you guys today is January's Pamper Gem from My World Sparkles. This month's hand pampering beauty is a relaxing lavender scent and is garnished with real lavender flower buds. The Pamper Gems from My World Sparkles are made with deep conditioning oils and natural essential oils to provide a lasting scent and moisturizing properties as well. My hands were incredibly soft and moisturized after using it! 

Both Black Opal and the lavender Pamper Gem are available right now in the My World Sparkles shop. You can find them both HERE. Black Opal is 5 free and comes in a 1/2 oz (15ml) bottle and is on sale right now for only $5! The lavender Pamper Gem is available in a single pack for $1.50, a double pack for $2.50, and a triple pack for $3.75. I highly recommend trying them out! 

What's your favorite nail care product scent? 

Thanks for reading! 

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Swatch and Review: Madam Glam

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have a swatch and review of 5 polishes from Madam Glam, a boutique polish brand based out of NYC. These 5 are from their fall collection that is currently available. I have lots to say so let's jump right in! 

The first one up is Red Black, a squishy jelly like creme. I was hoping this one would look a little more like the bottle, almost a deep burgundy but as is the case with colors like this, it just showed up black on the nail. I loved the formula on these, thick but not so thick that I couldn't do a relatively thin coat, easy to control and apply, not runny. I did have a little difficulty with the brush, its not wide but the bristles are thick and very dense. There was a bit of a learning curve to using it but once I got started, I had a pretty easy time after that. My swatch shows 2 coats plus topcoat, though you could likely get away with one thicker coat. 

Madam Glam Red Black in direct artificial lighting

Madam Glam Red Black 

The next one up is Another glass, a blackened jelly base with dense burgundy shimmer throughout. This one is a one coat wonder! Yes, that's one easy coat that you see down below. The formula was perfection on Another Glass, it applied like butter in that one coat with a dense peppering of shimmer all across my nail. My swatch shows one coat plus topcoat. This one my top favorite from the five I was sent!

Madam Glam Another Glass in direct artificial lighting

Madam Glam Another Glass 

Next up is Dark and Classy, another squishy jelly like creme but this time with an indigo base. This is another one that leaned one color in the bottle but just showed black on the nail. I didn't mind the end result but I was a bit disappointed that the color didn't translate. Again, I did two thin coats here but this is another one that could probably be a OCW. My swatch is 2 coats plus topcoat.

Madam Glam Dark And Classy in direct artificial lighting 

Madam Glam Dark And Classy

Almost finished! The next up is Vintage Girl, a dusty mauve creme. This one was more of a true creme vs the other cremes that were more like jellies. This was a surprise favorite of mine, I didn't think I'd love such a traditional color on my nails but I felt classic and beautiful with it on. Application and formula were really good. My swatch shows 2 thin coats plus topcoat.

Madam Glam Vintage Girl in direct artificial lighting

Madam Glam Vintage Girl

The final polish that I have to show you is Endless Night, an inky blue/black squishy jelly like creme. I know, I know - 3 of these looked almost identical, right? I had that issue too. In fact, when I was cropping and watermarking my photos, I struggled with keeping them all straight. I wouldn't say that you need all 3, but each is beautiful with good applications and formula so I would say at least one of these dark, vampy cremes is worth owning! Anyway, I did two coats of Endless Night and added a topcoat. LOOK HOW SHINY!

Madam Glam Endless Night in direct artificial light 

Madam Glam Endless Night

That rounds out my swatches. If you'd like to see a live swatch of these beauties, click below to head to my youtube channel:

If you want to pick any of these polishes up, head over to Madam Glam's website. I believe they're even having a giveaway right now so definitely check that out! You can also follow them on Instagram for more information!

What do you think of these? Which is your favorite?

Thanks for reading!

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Swatch and Review: Square Hue Subscription Box!

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have a swatch and review of the October box from Square Hue. If you haven't heard of Square Hue before, its a monthly subscription box that comes with either 3 full sized polishes for $12.99 plus $5 shipping or 2 full sized polishes for $10.99 plus $5 shipping. Each box is centered around a theme but all the polishes are color coordinated with what's seasonally appropriate. October's box is centered around the 1990's and includes three perfectly fall shades. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each box goes directly to raise awareness for victims of human trafficking via the A21 Campaign.

If you see the photo I included of the box itself, you can see that the box comes with a card that shows the theme of the box, plus all three shade names with a place to swatch them on the card to see the colors. So if you'd like to see swatches of these pretty polishes, skip after the break!

The first polish I swatched in the collection is Desert Storm, a creamy nude shade with yellow undertones. I didn't think I'd love this shade because yellows typically clash with my olive toned skin but this actually turned out to be a love for me! I may have even found my perfect mannequin hand shade which is kind of exciting! (Shit nail polish addicts say!)

Although the color is beautiful and the formula is what I would call good, I struggled with Desert Storm because its a little on the thin side. I had polish run down my brush and flood my cuticles which was frustrating when it made a mess of things. The positives of the formula are that its completely opaque in 2 thin coats, it self levels beautifully, and dried to a glossy finish on its own. I am showing it below in 2 coats plus topcoat. 

Desert Storm in direct artificial lighting

Macro of Desert Storm

The second polish from the box that I swatched is called Vogue, a red jelly with silver shimmer throughout. This one was definitely my favorite in terms of color - look how vampy and perfect for fall it is! I can see wearing this one all the way through Christmas. The formula was the same on this one as Desert Storm - opaque in 2 thin coats but the thinness of the polish made it frustrating to apply because it pooled in my cuticles in a couple of spots. It self leveled beautifully and dried to a shiny finish. My swatch shows 2 thin coats plus topcoat.

Vogue in direct artificial lighting

Macro of Vogue

The final polish from the box is called Y2K, a blackened jelly with silver shimmer throughout. I really want to wear this one again and matte it - I have a suspicion that it would look similar to Zoya Dovima from the 2014 Matte Velvet collection! I feel like I'm repeating myself but the formula on this one is identical to the other two - beautifully opaque in 2 thin coats but somewhat thin and runny which led to pooling issues. Because its a darker color, it stained my cuticles where it pooled but it didn't stain my nails after I removed it so that's a bonus! My swatch shows 2 thin coats plus topcoat. 

Y2K in direct artificial lighting

Macro of Y2K

Overall thoughts for this box: The colors are beautiful and I love that they all center around one inspiration. There is great value in this box because you get 3 full sized polishes for only $12.99 or 2 full sized for $10.99. Really the only downside is application issues but those may be personal to me as I tend to prefer a slightly thicker polish because I find them easier to control.

If you'd like to get this box or any future boxes, you can find them at squarehue.com and the signup process is super easy! You can also follow them on Instagram for more information. If you'd like to see my live swatch of these polishes, click below to head over to my Youtube channel:

Do you get any nail polish subscription boxes? Which is your favorite?

Thanks for reading!

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