Moon Shine Mani Debut Elfing Around Collection

I am super excited to be posting about this next collection! I always love to see some of my favorite Youtubers come out with their own collections! I discovered Phoebe Moon's channel over a year ago. I love her live swatching videos, and the fact that she performs her own background music. I just fell in love her creativity and originality.

She has recently started her own handcrafted nail polish line called Moon Shine Mani. The first collection debuted in December. It is called Elfing Around - inspired by the movie Elf. Don't judge me, but I have never seen the movie, but I've seen many memes and gifs to get the jist of it.

The collection is six polishes - three holos and three shimmers in nice range of colors.

This is the full collection in natural lighting.

This is the full collection with flash. Clockwise from top we have: Jovie (pink), The Naughty List (silver), Buddy the Elf (green), Very Purpley(purple), Swirly Twirly Gumdrops (teal), Smiling's My Favorite (gold).

Jovie is a bright medium pink with holographic shimmer. I wore this over the Christmas holidays in an attempt to be festive without having to do nail art. 

Here are a couple more shots in the sunlight. I got a lot of compliments on the polish. My mom was in love with this, so I'll probably have to lend it to her so she can wear it.

The formula was smooth and the coverage was very good.

Next up is The Naughty List, which I think is my favorite of the bunch. The silver/gunmetal base is so rich and the holo came out so strong in normal lighting.

Pictured above with flash.

Buddy the Elf is the next polish.. I guess this could be considered the flagship polish of the collection. This is a bold green with tiny gold shimmers sprinkled throughout. 

Buddy the Elf with flash. It does go on a bit streaky, but it dries down smooth. I really like the effect the gold gives the green. It's like gold tinsel peeking out from a Christmas tree!

I know I said the Naughty List was my favorite, but Very Purpley is right up there with it! This is a light purple with a strong flash of gold shimmer. Soooooo lustre-y and beautiful! Please excuse my application - I think I nicked it in a few places before I took the pictures. This is really reminiscent of the Native War Paints Sweaters collection polishes that I could never seem to get my hands on. The gold shimmer just gives this polish a dynamic effect.

Very Purple-y with flash.

Next is Swirly Twirly Gumdrops. This is showing up very blue in the photos, but it is a very blue leaning teal. Like the other two holos, it has a great formula and a super strong holo. 

Swirly Twirly Gumdrops with flash.

Lastly is Smiling's My Favorite. This is a beautiful deep gold with scattered holographic shimmers. This is super opaque and it looks so good against my skin tone! I wore this for the New Year's celebrations this year!

Smiling's My Favorite with flash.

This is a wonderful debut collection from Phoebe! It offers a wide range of finishes and colors - which is a probably a good indication of what's to come from Moon Shine Mani. 

Check out this collection here: http://www.moonshinemani.com/

and check out Phoebe's page on Youtube!

https://www.youtube.com/user/phoebeamoon

Sephora Formula X $5 Clearance Haul

I was perusing the Sephora in JCPenny the other day, and I stumbled upon the large stash of Formula X polishes on sale for $5 each! I know I've tried to put myself on a limited no-buy, but I couldn't pass on the chance to get some polishes for 60% off. I could never convince myself to buy very many for full price, even though they always had some eye-catching shades!

I've been on a mission to get more nail treatments, like conditioners, brighteners, etc. and luckily their The System polishes were included in the sale. I picked up the Prime Strength strengthening base coat, Color Corrector base coat, Prime Condition base coat, and Brightening Treatment stain-removing treatment. 

I have only tried the Prime Strength base coat so far, and it goes on very nicely. I'm pretty interested in putting the brightening treatment to the test after I'm done swatching some new collections. My nails aren't badly stained, but it would be nice to get the yellow tinge out and lose the dullness. I would probably be less embarrassed to go out with naked nails.

Now on to the actual polishes...There were loads of the white-capped polishes, which I'm pretty sure were all just cremes, and they all looked pretty boring to me...haha. Then I moved over to the black-capped polishes; there was far less selection, but the ones that were left were amazing! Check the HOLO!! 

Polishes from Top to Bottom: Hera, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Sci-Fi.

First off is Sci-Fi. In the bottle, it looks like a glittery light sea foam green with gold shimmer. I thought it would be like a sheer ethereal topper, but it turns out it is actually a texture polish. The above picture is two coats with flash.

Two coats with no flash.

The first coat was a bit thin, but two coats covered nicely. 

I alo went ahead and threw a topcoat on top of it. I added two thick coats, but it still wasn't entirely smooth. It did take away the gold shimmer that is more prominent when it is matte.

Next up is Hera.This is a rose gold shimmer holographic. The formula was very smooth with good coverage. The above picture is two coats with no flash.

Pictured above with flash. The holo was very strong even without direct light.

Last close up with topcoat and flash.

Second is Artemis. This is a medium silver with holographic shimmer. This is a classic silver holo, so it's not super unique, but the formula and coverage were both solid.

Close up with flash and topcoat. It's way out of focus, but the holo still shows up nicely.

Last up is Aphrodite, which is a gunmetal with holographic shimmer. In the pictures it does seem to have a sight purple tinge, but it could just be the flash.

Close up with flash.

Formula overall was the same as the others with the same holo intensity. 

These polishes overall were a really great find. There has been speculation that Sephora could be discontinuing the Formula X line; there was virtually nothing in the usual display at my store. I will have to check back to see if they do a restock of new colors. I'll also be on the lookout at discount stores to see if any of the pop up there! 

Nine Zero Holiday 2016 Collection

I've taken a bit of a break from nails for the past few months, but Holiday collections this year were enough to bring me out of the hiatus. The first collection up is Holiday 2016 from Nine Zero Lacquer. It is a beautiful selection of colors that give you that wintry, holiday feeling. I think it offers a nice spectrum of finishes and colors in a well-rounded collection.

First off is Frost.  This is a greeny teal with holographic glitters. This has a great formula that doesn't get clumpy.  The picture below is two coats. There is a little visibility of the nail line, but the shimmers conceal it in person. 

Next is Midnight; this is a beautiful deep purple holographic microglitter. I don't have anything like this in my collection. It is twilight sky-looking! In the bottle, it also looks like it has a slight golden flash, but it doesn't translate on to the nail unfortunately. It's still a beautiful polish.

Next is probably my favorite - Sugar Cookie. I have a weird obsession with white crellies stuffed with glitter. Sugar cookie has red and green metallic shards with gold hex glitters. The shards dry kind of sticking out, so a couple of coats of topcoat are needed to smooth it out.

Next up is Golden Lights, who is the little sister to Twinkle Lights. It's gold holographic base with red and green translucent hex glitters. I don't know if it's due to the formula, but it really showed the ridges in my nails. I might have to go with a ridge filling base coat next time. It is so sparkly and magical for the holidays!

Next is Balsam, a beautiful light, piney green holographic. There are also tiny golden flakies that give it more of a glowy look. The formula is great and has good coverage with 1 coat. Pictured below is 2 coats. 

Lastly is Pink Christmas. This is a light pink with a golden flash. This also has a slight holographic in it. The color is really great, but I had a little bit of trouble with the formula on this polish. It didn't go on as smooth as the others and got a little clumpy.