PJ's and Polish: Colors by Llarowe (CbL) Summer 2014

Hey guys! Today's post is a review of my picks from the Colors by Lllarowe (CbL) Summer 2014 - Holo/Holo Glitters Collection. I purchased the whole set from the pre-order but some were close to polishes I already have and I let them go to other ladies that would give them more love. All photos are shown with two coats and one coat of HK Girl topcoat.

Descriptions in italics are directly from the Llarowe site.

Swatch and Review Colors by Lllarowe CbL Summer 2014 Holo and Holo Glitters Gemini Rising Final Fantasy Refresh...ing! Chillin' In Paradise The Golden Touch When Doves Cry My Own Private Paradise HK Girl

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) - Gemini Rising

Gemini Rising is a bright almost neon mid green strong linear holo

This is two coats of Gemini Rising. The formula on this polish is utter perfection and almost a one-coater. This is by far the brightest yet deepest green I have ever seen. This one was really hard to capture, it's bright, but still a bit deeper. In my opinion it's the perfect emerald green. I do need to report that even with two coats of Duri Rejuvacote as my base it did stain my nails yellow in some places. The staining was minimal, but I had a head's up that it was a stainer and it still managed to stain through two layers of basecoat.

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) - Refresh...ing!

Refresh...ing! is an aqua green with blue flash strong linear holo

This is two coats of Refresh...ing!. Formula on this was a bit thinner than I'm used to from CbL so I had a little bit more cleanup than usual. Pigmentation was good though and it went on smoothly and easily with no streaks. In some lighting I noticed a wee bit of visible nail line, but in most lighting it's completely opaque. This polish changes with different lighting and angles so that in some lighting it leans more blue and others more green. The linear holo is a bit more subtle than some of the others, but it's definitely a favourite! I didn't have issues with staining, but I recommend using a different wipe or piece of cotton on each nail as the skin can get a bit smurfy. It washes off with soap and water, but better to remove one nail at a time.

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) - Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy is a charcoal taupe linear holo with strong pink shimmer

This is two coats of Final Fantasy. The formula on this one is great, not too thick or thin. The linear holo in this is nice and strong. Even if I didn't love it just for the name, I love the pink shimmer that makes this interesting in any lighting. Removal took a little bit longer because of the shimmer, but it was still easy to remove.

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) - Anna's Adventure

Anna's Adventure is a bright almost neon salmon pink with blue undertones linear holo. Lucy I'm Home's slightly lighter, pinker and more blue based sister

This is two coats of Anna's Adventure. Formula on this was good, a little bit on the thicker side than I normally like, and I prefer thicker polishes. The linear holo is not quite as strong as some of the others. This has been noted as a known stainer. I used two thick coats of Gelous, but it still left a significant amount of pink stain behind. I recommend a couple of ways to remove stains and they will be listed at the bottom of this post.

Update: please note at the time of this blog post, Anna's Adventure was recently pulled from the store and will not be sold.

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) - My Own Private Paradise

My Own Private Paradise is a softened neon hot pinky orchid linear holo

This is two coats of My Own Private Paradise. Formula on this was great and two coats covered nicely. Like Anna's Adventure the holo in this is a bit more subtle, but still a beautiful linear holo. This colour to me is very "radiant orchid". In the bottle shot photo the colour in the bottle is lighter, and that's is how it appears to me in person as well.

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) - When Doves Cry

When Doves Cry is a dove grey strong linear holo

This is two coats of When Doves Cry. The formula on this one was okay, but not as fantastic as the rest. I had some issues with streaking and patchiness on the first coat. The second coat I went a bit thicker and covered it up, but I had to be careful not to go over the same spot twice as it tended to drag at the cuticle. The linear holo is pretty strong and I love the colour, it's the perfect soft grey.

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) - Chillin' In Paradise

Chillin' In Paradise is a light tiffany blue/aqua strong linear holo

This is two coats of Chillin' In Paradise. The formula on this is okay, but again a bit thinner. The first coat was pretty sheer and I had a tiny bit of dragging so I used a thicker second coat to get full coverage. Since it's thinner, I actually had a bit more cleanup than normal as it pooled in my cuticles. The linear holo is very strong on this one.

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) - The Golden Touch

The Golden Touch is a golden linear holo base with gold holo micro glitter

This is two coats of the Golden Touch, as this one has microglitter it dries slightly textured, but not lumpy. The formula is a bit thicker and easy for me to work with. Two regular coats are needed for full opacity. Full dry time is about 10 minutes after the second coat where I pressed my thumb into it and didn't get any wrinkling or smudging. As I normally topcoat my polishes, I've shown it with topcoat, but you can also wear it without depending on your preference. Because it's a microglitter I recommend either a peel-up base or using the foil method for easy removal.

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) - Sweet Revenge

Sweet Revenge is a deep teal strong linear holo

This is two coats of Sweet Revenge, though I could have gotten away with one! Thinner formula again, and I had a bit of trouble of polish pooling in my cuticles. The pigmentation is amazing and only one coat is necessary for full opacity. Since I was a bit messy with my application I did two to go over some spots where I did a bit too much cleanup. The holo in this is more like Gemini Rising where the linear arc shows mostly just the blue and green and not the full rainbow spectrum. Unfortunately no matter what I tried, I could not capture the true nature of Sweet Revenge. My photos are showing it a lot darker blue than it really is and it is way more green in real life. If you love dark teals, it's a must have. This one did stain the skin and the sides of my nails blue, so double-up on basecoat.

And that concludes the end of my picks for the CbL Summer 2014 Collection. Aliens & Outlaws, Blonde Ambition, Nice Melons!, Olivia, Surf My Wave and Watch Me Fly, See Me Soar were given other homes. I'm a little sad I didn't keep Aliens & Outlaws though. Out of all the ones that I did keep, Gemini Rising, Refresh...ing!, Sweet Revenge and When Doves Cry are my favourites. Let me know which ones are your favourites and if you purchased any or intend to pick any up. If you have a request for a comparison with other CbL's, please let me know and I will do my best! You can also check out my review of The Shimmers from this collection here. Thanks for reading!

So, I promised some tips on removing stains from your nails. The tips I've picked up from various nail gurus on Facebook nail groups, hope one of these helps! Make sure to moisturize your hands afterwards!

Whitening toothpaste on a nail brush. I prefer the white kind, not gel. This method actually worked with me for Anna's Adventure and I was able to get all of the staining off. It took about 5 minutes, but all the staining was gone.
Mix peroxide and baking soda in some water until it's like a paste and let them soak for about 5 minutes, then scrub with a nail brush. If you use full strength peroxide, it can dry out your nails.
Use Cuticle remover coating the whole nail, let sit for no more than a minute on the nail then rinse with soap and water. I would suggest doing them one at a time. The cuticle remover can damage your nail if it sits too long.
Let a denture tab dissolve in water and soak for 5 minutes and scrub them with a nail brush.

As of this blog post there will be a restock tomorrow, Wednesday June 25th on Llarowe! This is a regular restock and not a pre-order so quantities are limited.

Colors by Llarowe can be purchased from Llarowe or Harlow & Co. Keep an eye out on Llarowe's Facebook page and Harlow & Co's Facebook Page for restock information or subscribe to their newsletters. Llarowe usually restock every 4 - 6 weeks.

PJ's and Polish

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Colors by Llarowe (CbL) Summer 2014 - Holo/Holo Glitters