Blog Updates

Hey dolls! I have some exciting news for you today. Some of you who follow me via facebook may have already heard that Refined & Polished has gotten a makeover. Along with the revamped look, R&P can now be found at www.refinedandpolished.com. I've owned this domain name for over a year, but I've finally come to a point to where I wanted to migrate from Blogger. Please change your bookmarks as necessary and check out the new site. I would love to hear your feedback. For those of you who follow via a RSS feed (i.e. Google Reader), you will have to subscribe again on the new site. Several posts have been made on the new site, so check them out. Hope to see all of you over on the new site!

Zoya Gilty

Hey dolls! Over the last few days, I've been wearing a gorgeous combo - Zoyas Gilty and Natty. As soon as I heard that Zoya was putting out a LE gold leaf top coat, I immediately pre-ordered even though I wasn't sure that I would like it. I'm glad to report that I love it! Gilty is pretty dense, so I only needed one coat over Natty.

I love the way this pair looks together! I am looking forward to pairing Gilty with other cremes. I'm envisioning some great holiday looks. Zoya just announced yesterday that the Gilty trio is available again for a limited time. Head on over to get yours while they are still in stock!

Have you picked up any of the gold leaf top coats yet?

Breast Cancer Awareness - Skittles

Hey dolls! Today I have for you the BCA mani that I wore to my local Making Strides walk. This look was inspired by Marta of ChitChat Nails. She always does the cutest skittles looks (where each nail is different) and I wanted to give it a try. I pulled out Barielle Eli's Magic, Barielle Cotton Candy, Zoya Kimber, and OPI Excuse Moi. I received Excuse Moi as a surprise gift from my polish friend Lola over at Burb Beauty (thanks doll). Two coats of Excuse Moi was used over one coat of Eli's Magic while two coats were used of the remaining polishes.

As Marta inspired this look, I had to take a few pictures with some BCA jewelry!

I loved the way this turned out! I finally got a chance to do the "saran wrap" marbled look. I started with a base of Cotton Candy, added stripes of Kimber and Eli's Magic, then dabbed with the saran wrap. I'm ready to try this look with other colors!

Here are a few pictures from the BCA walk. I have more, but they are with my high school mentoring group and I don't want to put them on the net all willy nilly. :)

Happy hump day dolls!

Reader's Choice Monday ~ China Glaze Immortal

Hey dolls! The winner for this week was China Glaze Immortal with 42% of the votes. This is a gorgeous gray with flashes of blue glass flecks. The formula was pretty good. I haven't used a China Glaze in awhile, so I forgot how long and thin their brushes are. I used two coats for opacity.

I was secretly hoping Immortal would win! This color is perfection! But of course I couldn't stop with Immortal alone because I also picked up Make a Spectacle from that collection. Make a Spectacle is a topper that is filled with iridescent glitter. The glitter is very dense and I had no problems getting it onto the nail.

These two colors compliment each other so well! I've been staring at my nails all day at work as the light reflects off of the glitter. I totally recommend this duo while the Wicked collection is still readily available at Sally Beauty Supply.

For this week's poll, I have three Butter LONDON's for you that I added to my collection during the Ulta BOGO deal. Please take a second to vote dolls!

surveys & polls

Zoya Ornate Collection

Hey dolls! I have an amazing collection for you tonight! Several months ago, the Zoya fairies posted on their facebook page that holos would be coming to us soon. Well, they are finally here in the winter collection! The Ornate collection consists of three scattered holos (which you all know I prefer over linear holos), a shimmer, a foil, and a bar glitter. The formula on the entire collection was great and all applied well. The Ornate collection is full of win, so let's get to the photos.

Blaze is a cool-toned medium mulberry red with a high concentration of micro fine diamond holographic glitter. I know I love a color when I'm constantly telling my hubby how pretty it is as I apply it. Two coats were used.

 

Storm is a holiday black with a high concentration of micro fine diamond holographic glitter. This color is absolutely stunning! You all know I've been into dark colors lately, so Blaze is right up my alley. Two coats were used.

Aurora is a medium sugarplum purple flecked with a high concentration of micro fine diamond holographic glitter. Holo lovers, this is the one you NEED! Once again, I was saying out loud how gorgeous this polish was. By this point, hubby was probably tired of hearing me say it! The sparkle is crazy in this polish. Aurora is not quite as pigmented as the rest of the collection, so I used three coats.

Electra is a micro fine diamond holographic glitter mixed with large silver holographic bar tinsel in a clear base. Oh Electra. I would have been perfectly fine with this collection if Electra was not included. I'm sure those who like bar glitter will be pleased though. Electra surely provides the bling factor. I am not a fan of bar glitter; especially bar glitter that is this dense. Only one coat was used over Aurora. 

Logan is a yellow-toned forest green with dense, foil-like yellow-gold and blue-green duochrome shimmer. This is one pretty green! I love how heavy the gold shimmer is. I didn't realize until I went outside that there was a little balding in some areas, so three coats (as opposed to the two I did) are needed for opacity.

Ziv is a yellow-toned metallic gold foil with silver highlights and warm gold flake glitter accents. I adore Ziv! This gold foil is so complimentary to my skin tone. I love the depth that the flakes add, which makes this a really unique shade. Two coats were used.

Excluding Electra, I absolutely love the Ornate collection! The best thing about the three holos is that the sparkle is visible in all lighting. Zoya has really impressed me this time around! If you'd like to purchase any of these Zoya polishes, you can find them here for $8 each. 

Which shades are you loving from the Ornate collection?

*Products featured in this post were provided by PR for review.*

Breast Cancer Awareness ~ Pretty & Polished You Are Beautiful + BCA

Hey dolls! I hope you all have had a great week so far. Tonight I have another extremely special breast cancer awareness combo for you all. Pretty & Polished has created a BCA duo where 100% (yes, 100%) of the proceeds will benefit a local organization called Little Red Door of Delaware County Cancer Agency, which offers a variety of support for those who have cancer. This includes cancer screenings and detection, as well as client education and support.

The first polish in this duo is You Are Beautiful, which is a light pink shimmer. The formula is somewhat thin, but not problematic at all. I would recommend applying You Are Beautiful with a careful hand to minimize brushstrokes. I used two coats for the photos below. 

The other half of the duo is BCA, a gorgeous glitter filled with pink hex glitter and tiny purple glitter. The formula on BCA was great; it was the perfect glitter to base ratio. I was pleased with the amount of glitter on the nail after just one coat, so I left it with that. To make this look even more special, I pulled out my new Bundle Monster stamping plates. Using Color Club Hot Like Lava, I stamped on pink ribbons from plate 321. 

I absolutely adore the way this turned out! I've always liked the way subtle stamping looks on others, so I decided to give it a go with this mani. Truthfully, I purchased the third set of BM plates specifically for this image. I barely use the second set, so I didn't think it made much sense to by the third. Luckily, I had a few Amazon gift cards from using Swagbucks, so I got the plates for a good price. The Pretty & Polished BCA duo will be available for the rest of this month so I hope you all will support her efforts.

Reader's Choice Mondays ~ ManGlaze Mink Mitten

Happy Monday dolls! The winner for this week was ManGlaze Mink Mitten with 45% off the votes. Mink Mitten is a pretty lilac matte that is filled with silver shimmer. The formula was extremely easy to work with and was opaque in two coats. Compared to some of the other ManGlazes I have, the silver shimmer is much heavier in Mink Mitten. The pictures below are without top coat.

I really can't get enough of ManGlaze mattes; the formula is great, fast dry time, and they wear well. Mink Mitten is super flattering. I wanted to add some polka dots to an accent nail, but I decided against it.

Up for votes this week are three more dark shades. I've already mentioned how I'm really into dark colors right now and I don't see that ending any time soon. Please take a second to vote before the poll closes on Friday.

Immortal, Iris Jumbo Glitter, Dorian Gray

online survey

Cult Nail Nevermore + Charlatan

Hey dolls! Today I'm wearing a great Cult Nails combo in celebration of their sale over the next week. Nevermore is absolutely the best black polish I have ever tried. The formula is just the right consistency and it is completely opaque in one coat. I then applied one coat of Charlatan, which is from the most recent Deceptive top coat collection. Charlatan is a sheer top coat with a magenta to violet color shift. The pictures below were taken outside in the shade.

Love Charlatan! The color shift is visible in all lights, which is awesome. I'm glad I picked this one up because I see it looking great over so many different shades. At the top of this post I mentioned a Cult Nails sale. You can get 20% off using the code CULTOBER. Happy weekend dolls!