The Holiday Collection from Diamond Cosmetics

Hello My Lovelies!

After a week-long break from blogging, I'm back and I have another beautiful collection from Diamond Cosmetics!!

The lovely and affable Marissa from Diamond Cosmetics sent me their Winter Collection of nail lacquer last week and I could wait to share them all with the loyal readers of 52 Flavors. Here are the four beautiful polishes:

(l-r) Blue Diamonds, Rubies & Diamonds, Diamond's Diamonds, Amethysts & Diamonds*click any of the pics for a close up view* 

All of these polishes are packed with glitter and are quite dazzling. They have a rich feel and definitely emanate the holiday spirit with their bold and sparkling appearance. They are all wonderfully pigmented and reach bottle opacity with simple two coats (with the obvious exception of "Diamond's Diamonds, which I'd layer over white for a better look). The drying time is great as well. They dry flat and very textured due to the huge amount of glitter. I used China Glaze Fast Forward top coat to give them all the glossy shine you see in the pictures.

The only disappointment I have with this collection is that there is no GREEN or GOLD! I'd love to have a green and/or gold as brilliant as these colors with all that glitter in the polish for an added holiday nail look. My favorite of the four I did receive is Ametheyst & Diamonds, which I am wearing now. I've already planned to wear the blue polish and paint a white snowman on it once it's really cold here in the Capital City.

Once again, visit www.diamondcosmetics.com and pick from their economically prices vast array of nail polishes. They are all wonderful and I more than pleased with the results. I promise that you will more than happy with any polishes you buy from Diamond Cosmetics.

"Golden Dreams": polishes from Zoya, China Glaze & Color Club

Hello Lacquer Lovers!

I looked up the other day and realized that in the last month, I've managed to procure 3 new gold polishes! I love gold because it's so regal. It makes me feel extra special when I wear it.

I decided since I had these 3 polishes to do post featuring them all at once. It's interesting to see how different they are side by side:



(Click any of the pics below for a close up view)

First up is "24KT Gold" by Color Club. It has a smooth, satiny finish. The color is very vibrant. It was great as far as application (nice formula)and it only took 2 coats to match the bottle.

"Golden Glamour" by China Glaze is a much more understated gold polish. It seems to be a bit more shimmery than Color Club's "24KT Gold". The formula for this one was really sheer. It took 4(!!) coats to cover my nail line. In the end it was pretty, but SO MANY coats?? Wowsers.

Last but not least, here is "Richelle" by Zoya (Oh, I see what you did there, Zoya..."Rich"elle for a gold polish! Clever!) This is a frosty finished polish that is so fab! I liked this one because even though it could be considered kind of showy, it is totally office friendly. Only two coats and my nails were shining like Fort Knox.

What do you all think about gold polishes? Do you like any of these? While I like them all, if I had to pick a favorite of the 3, I'd say that would be "24KT Gold".

I think I'll do the same type of presentation with my bronze polishes next week, so you all stay tuned.



Thanks for reading,
pbg

"Unforgettable Red" by Maybelline

Hello Lovely Lacquer Lovers!

Now, I know a lot of ladies have issues with red nail polish. Amongst the African-American community girls and women have traditionally been discouraged from using red polish or red lipsticks for a variety of reasons. After shooting a question out from my Twitter account about it, I found the two main reasons being told that the color red was for "fast women" and that red doesn't look good against dark skin (makes us look "old").

I personally think I look great in red, but I think the key to it is finding the right "red" for you. You could be "candy apple red", "brick red", "fire engine red" or even burgundy! But don't fall into the myth that dark skinned women can't wear red because it's just not true! Honestly I think because of the richness of our varied skin tones, we look great in almost every color if you find the right shade for you!

The polish I'm featuring this time is "Unforgettable Red" by Maybelline. It's an awesome red! I think it looks very good against my dark skin. It's a smooth shimmer and applied very well. This is only 2 coats and it matched bottle opacity perfectly. The Salon Expert line of polishes by Maybelline has a great brush that is wide and enables you to get a lot of polish on your nail in just a few strokes. The drying time wasn't the quickest, but it was worth the wait because it looks beautiful. Check out the pics:

I usually find this polish at Target and it's less than $5.00, so not at all that expensive. The colors are as varied as I'd like to see, but it's a good product nonetheless. Give it a try and Brown Girls...don't be afraid of RED!!!

Thanks for reading,
pbg

I Won Nikki's Nails Giveaway!

Hello Beautiful Ones!

Last month, I was lucky enough to win a cool giveaway on another nail blog called "Nikki's Nails". Nikki is a British nail blogger and she had a giveaway for her birthday. She used a random pick program and lo' and behold, my number popped up! So I won the lovely polishes shown below:

Nikki shipped them over to me all the way from England! Isn't that just the coolest? I won myself an NYC "Nail Glossies" polish in a pearl sky blue color, a mini deep purple shimmer by Barbara Daly Makeup and a clear glitter/micro-glitter top coat from the Cover Girl Boundless Color collection. The Barbar Daly polish must be a European line because I've never seen it in America. The other two are very familiar brands to me.

Anyways, when I got my package from England, I wanted to use ALL 3 of the polishes at once! I was so excited!! I decided to try a simple little "French Tip" nail art experiment with the lovely polishes I won in Nikki's giveaway ( I added my own black striper from L.A. Colors). Here are my results:

(Click any of the pics below for close up views)

Thanks a lot, Nikki! I love my polishes!




Thanks for reading,
pbg