Serum No. 5: Poppy Fields

Products provided for review.

So, I really love it when I can get three very different looks from one topper type polish. Its like having three polishes for the price of one! And with this one, I really think it can go beyond the three colors I tried layering it with!

So here's how I did it!

First I put on a couple coats of my favorite white, Revlon Powder Puff, and then topped it with Serum No. 5's Poppy Fields, a red jelly based glitter topper. The result is a really pretty feminine pink tinted base color with beautiful red hex and gold circle glitters for an extra pop of girly sparkle! The application was smooth and easy, plenty of glitter for my liking with just one coat.




In this next set of photos I applied a couple of coats of one of my go to reds, Sinful Colors Bleeding Heart. Its a super squishy looking red, applies like a jelly but is opaque in just two coats. Its very forgiving and self levels, its pretty awesome. It was a limited color, but I believe it was just a re-label of Go Go Girl which is in their core line up.

After that I topped it with two coats of Poppy Fields for a vibrant red jelly look! Something a vintage pin-up gal might wear for that extra sparkle!




And the last look, which I really love, is Poppy Fields shown over Chanel Taboo. The red tint in the topper makes the Chanel appear nearly black, but not quite! A very sexy look for the Diva in all of us!




I had a lot of fun playing with layering this polish, and I keep thinking of other colors to try it over. Then in my head popped an image of how it might look done over a white/red/black gradient base! Could you imagine?! I would love to hear your combo ideas or see your photos (feel free to post on my facebook wall!) if you have Poppy Fields or pick it up sometime!

Poppy fields will be available at Serum No.5's shop today, January 30 at 7pm Central, and you can follow the brand for updates at their facebook page.

Glitterdaze: Winter Collection and a Giveaway!

Press Sample

I love holos, all kinds! Linear, scattered, glitter, shimmer, toppers, tints, jellies you name it - if its holo I'll love it. So imagine how super excited I was when Sana of Glitterdaze offered to let me swatch her new Winter Collection which is full of holos! Seven lovely holos from bright to neutral and my favorite kind, linear!

Since there's seven to show you that means 21 photos so I'll just tell ya now, the formula on all of these was buttery smooth, almost applying themselves. I received minis and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with Glitterdaze's mini bottle style. It has a full sized flat brush that was super easy to use, I was just careful when dipping it in the bottle since they're tall and skinny they need a little support to keep from tipping over. Not a big deal though, finally a mini style bottle that's super easy to use and feels like a full size! In all the photos, I wore three coats of each polish on its own and had good coverage.



Pop-Pink Bubbly is how my mini was labeled but the website has it labeled as Pop-Pink Champagne, either way - this one's a stunner! I'd describe it as a flashy diva hot pink with a linear holo rainbow.





Glistening Plumsicles is a very grapey purple linear holo and in some lights it looks more violet colored. I'm not sure what magic she put in this bottle, but I love it!





Twinkle Twinkle Dazzling Star is a beautiful cornflower blue. I believe this is the first shade like this in my collection of over...oh let's not go there. ;) TTDS is absolutely beautiful and the rainbow bend is strong in this one, just difficult to capture under bright studio lighting.





Evergreen With Envy is like the answer to my green holo dreams! Its a very rich shade of green and just a little less yellow than the photos show, but I couldn't correct that without making it look too blue. It Kelly Green but just a hare darker. I'm in love with it! Sana told me its a stainer so do wear extra base coat, blink twice, kiss the air and jump. I used two coats of base coat but I haven't removed it, I just can't its too gorgeous! If you want to know if that helped, leave a comment and I'll reply to it and let ya know when I take the polish off. :)





These last three, I'm going to call them the nudes or neutrals. They're all gorgeous and would look awesome together with some striping tape nail art!
Oh brown holo, how I love thee! Cuddling By The Fireplace is a chocolatey brown color with a dazzling holo sparkle. Wouldn't this be cute with red "strawberry" glitters on top for Valentine's day?





Fuzzy Socks and Slippers really shocked me with its unexpected beauty. The color is like Rose Gold which, I hear, is on trend for fashion this winter. I think this shade would work well with any skin tone and is office appropriate. Now how's that for a perfect holo?





And lastly is Sparkling Snowball Fight, a grey linear holo. The perfect medium shade of grey. It is amazing all on its own, but this shade of grey is also my go to color for multi-colored glitter toppers. The perfect color to wear for a few days and then top it to extend the mani.





I enjoyed wearing each and every color in this collection that I just don't think I can choose a favorite. I like that these can be worn on their own in three coats, but I also think they could be used as a grey cancelling holo topper over solid creams since they have a sheerness to them. If you try that out, please do let me know!

You can get your favorites for $11 each over at the Glitter Daze shop. If you want them all, she has a listing for the whole set at a discounted price! Or - you can enter our giveaway (USA only!) and possibly win three bottles of your choice from the Winter Collection!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Best of luck on the giveaway if you entered, and thank you for visiting xoxojen.com!

Feature Friday!

Last week on Friday a smallish facebook group I admin started a link share with each other and I decided to post links every thirty minutes on my facebook blog page and dubbed it as Feature Friday. I did it again this week and thought I'd post the end of the day's round up list here to share with you all!


https://www.facebook.com/urbanlacquer
https://www.facebook.com/supernaturallacquer
https://www.facebook.com/GltterMeThis
https://facebook.com/PolishedandGlittered
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Two-Gypsies-Nail-Lacquer/205946686236026
http://www.glitznglammer.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MDJCreations
http://mynailpolishobsession.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/polishaddictnailcolor
http://www.facebook.com/AGirlObsessed
https://www.facebook.com/AlchemyLacquers
http://facebook.com/boomshakalacquer
http://www.facebook.com/blossoms31
https://www.facebook.com/ColorSutraa
http://facebook.com/thecraftinglacquerista
https://www.facebook.com/CupcakePolish
http://www.facebook.com/daphinepolish
http://www.facebook.com/delushpolish
http://www.facebook.com/DigitalNails
http://www.facebook.com/eatsleeppolish
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fierce-Makeup-and-Nails/183323855087058
https://www.facebook.com/GirlyBits
https://www.facebook.com/GlamPolish
https://www.facebook.com/GlitterDaze
http://facebook.com/gnarlygnails
http://facebook.com/gothicgalalacquers
https://www.facebook.com/ifeelpolished
https://www.facebook.com/IndysIndies
https://www.facebook.com/lacquerbylissa
https://facebook.com/LilypadLacquer
https://www.facebook.com/madecbyme
http://www.facebook.com/MarblesForPolish
https://www.facebook.com/MelaniesFancies
http://www.facebook.com/MyTenFriends
http://www.facebook.com/misfitson8th
http://www.facebook.com/NeffysNailCorner
https://www.facebook.com/NiresDesire

End of Feature Friday round up for this week!
Thank you all so much for visiting the links I've shared!
I hope you enjoyed the share and maybe discovered some new places. I know I did!

I'd love for you to join in and post your links in the comments below and I invite you to do a Feature Friday on your facebook or blog next week along with me!

Nire's Desire: Revel and Anam Cara

One Product provided for review, one product purchased by xoxojen.

Debbie from The Crumpet blog posted a swatch of Revel to her facebook page and I bought it so fast that the Road Runner would have missed it! Revel was so stonking gorgeous, that I had to have my own bottle!

I had not heard of Nire's Desire polishes before Debbie blogged them, so I was excited to try a new brand and even more excited when Erin offered to send another polish to me for review.
Random: I also just now realized that Erin's name is spelled backward for her brand - Nire's. How neat!

Revel is a grape juice colored one coat holographic polish. Yes, its a one coater folks! I must admit I do apply polish in fairly thick coats, so if you use thin coats it might take two coats. The formula is fluid and very easy to apply. During application the polish stays wet enough that you can paint the whole nail then go down the middle again to even it out. I had very little clean up and that makes for a happy Jen! I like the square bottle and vinyl labels too. The front has the brand name and the back label shows the color name. Beautiful polish, excellent formula, and pretty packaging - what more could a gal want?




Then there was Anam Cara, oh how I love thee! Anam Cara was provided for review and sent along with my Revel order. Its a blue leaning medium purple, nearly a periwinkle color with green shimmer in it that shifts to hot pink under lower lighting. The formula and application are stellar, just like Revel's. I shot this photo series with CFL bulbs which seem to have washed out the beautiful shimmer somewhat, but you can see it glowing wildly in the bottle. Its like that on the nail too!

Did you know that Anam Cara is an Irish term roughly translated "Soul Friend" - sort of like a soul mate but a friend. So, Erin made this one for her best friend who just moved away. The purple speaks of passion, love and happiness while the green gives it a Celtic flair. Do you have that special someone that you always feel close to, no matter how far apart you are?




If you like what you see here, have a look in her shop. Nire's Desire is definitely on my 'must have all the polish' list! You should also stalk follow Nire's Desire's facebook page so you can keep up with new releases and other news from the brand!

Shimmer Polish

Products provided for review.

Ringing in the new year with sparkle and shimmer! Appropriate for a first post of the year, yeah?
I'm so excited to have the opportunity to wear and share Shimmer Polish with you!
My interactions with Cindy from Shimmer have been awesome! She shipped really fast and all of the polishes she chose for me are beautiful, shimmery and super sparkly.

She draws her inspiration from many things and even has an inspiration board on her blog! Cindy describes her inspirations for us in the following quote:

My polishes are named after my wonderful friends and family. Each and every name has an important significance to me. Each shade of Shimmer is inspired by that person, from favorite colors, things that are reminiscent of that person, and even personal requests from these great ladies. Each and everyone of my Shimmers have shaped and influenced me to become who I am today. In a way, this is my tribute and gratitude towards having so many amazing people in my life.

Starting off with my namesake, Jennifer, was a must. Packed with periwinkle, soft blue, copper and black, the glitter floats loftily in a clear base. The listing for this polish says that some bottles also contain black glitter, mine did. I layered one coat of Jennifer over Vivid Lacquer's Bettie Sage for a nice contrast. I love purple and green so how could I resist doing a variation with periwinkle and mint? I am so happy she sent this one to me, it makes my heart smile, and I can say I'm wearing myself. xD




Nichole is a very patriotic glitter mix of red, blue and silver so I wore one coat over Revlon Powder Puff to add white into the mix! Nichole will make a great July 4th and Labor Day polish, don't ya think? How about for the various Flag Days celebrated in the United Kingdom? Or perhaps Norway? Did you know there are 35 flags that contain red, white, and blue? How cool is that!




As soon as I saw the name Jasmine and the seafoamy color of the polish I immediately thought of Princess Jasmine from Disney's Aladdin movie. I almost wore this over black to add in the hair color but then that urge to pair green with purple took over! Jasmine is one coat layered over Revlon Modern Grace. I was surprised at how ethereal and calming these looked when paired together, like they were made for each other!




Celine, ohhh Celine how sexy are you!? Instant jelly glitter sandwich! I was very impressed with how opaque this became in only two coats, and how the glitter looks suspended in the polish on the nail! Its super squishy and has a glass-like shine. This may be my sexy Valentine's day mani!




Wikipedia says, "Cleo is a given name that is short for Cleopatra or Cleophalus and an alternate spelling of Clio. It is a Greek prefix often translated to mean 'pride', 'fame' or 'glory'."

Quite suitable for this spectacular polish! My jaw dropped when I saw it! Stonking gorgeous! Its like Clarins 230's supercharged sister! So much sparkle floating and flittering in there that magical butterflies and fairies MUST have made it! The holographic and iridescent sparkles shift with every movement, its surreal! I wore two coats over Hit Polish Chianti to match the wine tinted base of Cleo.




Bonus photo, how could I not?
I see what you did thar, ring finger!


I am happy to have "Shimmy Shimmer in my life!" Thanks so much to Cindy for allowing me to try these beauties! Every polish went on very easily. No finessing or dabbing, regular swipes of the brush applied the glitter evenly and in abundance.

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I hope you've all enjoyed reading and will share it with your friends!