September means it is time to go back to school! Lots of kids are already back, and my classes start in one and a half weeks. To celebrate I am giving away:

• Glitter Gal’s Marine Blue 3D Holo polish
• Glitter Gal’s Lizard Belly 3D Holo polish
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• Halloween nail decals
• Christmas nail decals
• Glamour Puss nail decals (2 sheets with a variation on the design)
• Overall Beauty Mineral Eye Shadow sample sizes in Night Wisp and Mink

Please note that all products are brand new and in their original packaging (some of the products in this giveaway were kindly furnished by Kim at Overall Beauty and the rest were purchased by me – with the exception of the China Glaze all are available for purchase at Overall Beauty).

Back to School Giveaway

Glitter Gal Marine Blue and Lizard Belly

Joby nail decals in Glamour Puss, Halloween and Christmas designs

To Enter:

There are several ways to enter.

1. Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following: Follow @PlayWithPolish and RT to win Glitter Gal holographic nail polish!  http://tinyurl.com/5rmmxp6

2. Follow my blog using Google Friend Connect

3. Follow my blog using NetworkedBlogs (at the bottom right side)

4. Be a friend on Facebook (Playing W. Polish)

5. Blog about my giveaway, or put in on your blog’s sidebar

6. Put www.PlayingWithPolish on your blogroll

Each counts as one entry, with a total of six possible entries per person. Please comment and tell me which method(s) you used, and the name(s) you follow under. I also need an email address to contact you if you are the winner.

The deadline is September the 21st at 5:00 PM Pacific time.

I will choose one randomly selected winner on September the 22nd and notify them via email. Please respond within 72 hours, or I will select another winner. My contest is open to anyone (except my family of course).

Good luck!

Lizard belly has even more awesome holographic goodness than Marine Blue. Although both are polishes I will reach for again and again Lizard Belly is a very dark green with linear holo. I love this color! It looks like green is going to be big this fall. This stunning green would be the perfect accent to any fall outfit At 9ml Glitter Gal bottles are smaller than standard polish bottles, but they manage to pack a lot of glittery goodness into that small package.

Glitter Gal Lizard Belly in sunlight

Glitter Gal Lizard Belly in sunlight

Application was excellent. Two coats and a top coat shown.

Glitter Gal Marine Blue and Lizard Belly

I will be giving away both Lizard Belly and Marine Blue along with some other fun goodies from Kim at Overall Beauty in my Back to School giveaway (I go back to school in a week and a half ). My giveaway starts tomorrow, so please check back!

Glitter Gal is an Australian brand. Happily Overall Beauty has started carrying them, so you can order them from a US seller and save on shipping (I always order $50+ anyway, so the shipping is free ). Marine Blue 3D Holo is an awesome bright blue with linear holo which even shows up strongly in indoor lighting – pow! I adore sparkles and holo polish, and this beauty really fits the bill! Just looking at my holo-licious nails make me happy. Good stuff! I am going to try Glitter Gal’s Lizard Belly next, but I don’t want to take this one off!

Glitter Gal Marine Blue in sunlight

Glitter Gal Marine Blue and Lizard Belly

First I tried applying this over my usual Poshe basecoat and I had a few application issues (mostly dragging and bald spots). I switched to China Glaze Strong Adhesion basecoat and it applied like a dream A top coat did not seem to dull the holo either. Did I mention that this is good stuff!?! Two coats and a top coat shown.

No Miss is a line of natural cosmetics available at Whole Foods. I got this beauty while I was on vacation with my husband in Portland. Purple Xtasy is a pale sheer purple with multicolored iridescent glitter. I found that it was to sheer for my taste to wear alone. However, it is great for layering. I tired it over BB Couture’s Nike (a somewhat reddish-purple with red and blue shimmer). The results were a purple that was a bit paler and more bluish with glitter that reminded me of confetti I found that this polish was similar to most flakie glitter polishes I have tried in that it photographed best in indirect sunlight.

No Miss Purple Xtasy in natural light

BB Couture Nike in sunlight

Application was very good. I used three coats of BB Couture Nike with one coat of Purple Xtasy and a top coat.

No Miss Purple Xtasy

This year for our anniversary/summer vacation my husband and I decided to go to Portland, OR. I had read that is was a great destination for bike riding, craft brews and excellent and abundant vegetarian food. Wow, what’s not to like?!? Those are things that both of us love!

Jessica and Ryan at Multnomah Falls

Portland turned out to be everything we hoped for! The city and surrounding areas were so green. I can’t believe how many tree pictures I took in the space of a week. This Californian was totally in awe of the lush vegetation! The food, cycling and tasty IPA were all better than I had dared hope. As far as nail polish goes, I was very restrained that week. I only bought one bottle at one at Whole Foods – a glittery purple by No Miss. Purple Xtasy practically jumped into my shopping basket I should have a swatch posted in the next few days. It is pretty sheer, so I will be showing it layered with another color.

What are your plans for this summer? Did you pick-up any polish along the way?

Jessica and Ryan on Mt. Hood

No Miss Purple Xtasy

In response to Andy’s question about how Mavala’s Agena compares to Nubar’s 2010, I snapped a few pictures. Agena has a blue base and the flakies are are duochrome, but primarily red. Nubar has a clear base and also has duochrome flakies with the most prominent color being orange. The picture is out of focus, but it best showed the colors of the flakie glitter pieces.

Mavala Agena and Nubar 2010 in sunlight

Both applied nicely, but I would only use them for layering as I feel they are too sheer on their own. Two coats shown.

Mavala Agena and Nubar 2010

Here Comes Trouble is another dense glitter from the new summer Pin-up collection. This one is a bright slightly yellow leaning green. Like Bubbly Bombshell it has a mixture of fine and hex glitters.  While Bubbly Bombshell has a clear base, Here Come Trouble has a yellowish-green one. This a a fun color for summer!

Orly Here Comes Trouble in sunlight

Application was very good. This has a smooth finish for a glitter polish. It is similar to the recent foil finish polishes. Three coats and a top coat shown.

Orly Bombshell and Orly Here Comes Trouble

Bubbly is a violet glitter bomb from  Orly’s new summer collection Pin-up (I also grabbed Here Comes Trouble which I will review soon). It is a very dense glitter in multiple shapes (very fine glitter and a larger hex glitter). I am not always a huge fan of glitter polishes, but this one is very pretty!  Bring on the backyard BBQ and a festive umbrella drink!  :-D

Orly Bubbly Bombshell in sunlight

Application was very good. The finish is pretty smooth for a glitter. It is similar to their recent foil finish polishes. Three coats (I probably could have gotten away using two) and a top coat shown.

Orly Bombshell and Orly Here Comes Trouble

After a string of overcast days, the sun peeked out. I wanted to do something fun with some major sparkle

Worth the Risque

Worth the Risque is a bright silver holo.

Application was very good, and this polish dries quickly. I used a base coat, so I did get some bald spots with the first two coats. The polish was totally opaque in three coats. Three coats and a top coat shown.

Color Club Worth the Risque in sunlight

Revvvolution

Revvvolution is a beautiful black holo. Yummy!

Application was very good. I used a base coat, but this color did not have the same bald spot issue. I had excellent coverage in two coats. Two coats and a top coat shown.

Color Club Revvvolution in sunlight

Color Club Worth the Risque and Revvvolution (with flash)

Right now I am about half way though midterms Last night I decided that I needed a cheerful, sparkling study mani. I started off with OPI’s The Show Must Go On! to match my toes. It was pretty, but I felt like it needed a little something more. I decided to try layering OPI’s Merry Midnight over it, and I was very pleased with the results! It ended up being lighter than Merry Midnight. I would describe it as a boysenberry pinkish purple with blue micro glitter and flakie glitter goodness! It is just what I needed to provide a little extra boost to my studying!

Application was very good on both. Two coats of The Show Must Go On! with a further two coats of Merry Midnight and a top coat shown.

OPI's The Show Must Go On! layered with OPI's Merry Midnight in sunlight

OPI The Show Must Go On! and OPI Merry Midnight