Harlow Blog

KBShimmer Let's Get Star-ted & Black to Business

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Katie Schmidt | 0 Comments

It's a cold one today here at Harlow & Co.: -27°C with the wind chill!!! Probably the coldest day we've had this winter since it's been pretty mild!

We're restocking KBShimmer today and that means busy, busy! Along with the regular shades we're restocking, we've got two new shades: Let's Get Star-ted & Black to Business!! I couldn't find a whole lot of swatch pictures on the ole Google search, so I thought I'd give it a go with both of them. Who am I kidding? I couldn't wait to try them out!!! :)

Let's Get Star-ted is one of those white crelly glitter combos that EVERYONE loves right now!!! I am no exception, I was dying to get my paws on this one - the little black stars are just so cute! I used three coats to cover my nail line and topped it with Seche Vite to smooth it all out - I didn't have any formula issues, it was perfect! And I didn't even need to fish for any stars, they came out on their own - bonus, they are smaller than usual nail polish stars so they don't stick up and catch on things!!!

These photos were taken in my lightbox.

Black to Business is a mixture of tiny matte glitters - blue, purple, white and my favourite - black!!! I was a little intimidated by this one at first - I didn't know what to layer it over to get the full effect, I think I tried seven combos on my nail wheel!! I finally chose Cult Nails Spontaneous as a base - I think purple was a good choice - plus, it looks so different outside in the sun as opposed to indoors!! Personally, I prefer the pictures I took indoors - I love this glitter. The formula was good, no issues - I thought it might be a little thick when I first saw it but it glided on the nail really nicely!!

Outdoors in the sun.

Outdoors in the shade.

Outdoors in the shade macro.

This was taken in the lightbox.

So what do you guys think? Will you be trying to snag one or both of these beauties today?!

Cheers,
Katie
xoxo

Posted in glitter, indie, kbshimmer

Welcoming Cirque to Harlow & Co.

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Katie Schmidt | 1 Comment

On Friday we launched a new brand here at Harlow & Co. - the fabulous Cirque!!! For those who don't know about Cirque, this is the "About Us" info for you!

"Cirque is an artisanal line of hand-blended nail polish made in New York. The name Cirque, meaning ring or circle, represents the color wheel and the endless color possibilities in the continuum. Creator, Annie Pham, sought to develop colors that transcend those of conventional brands by experimenting with unique pigments and raw materials. The debut collection, Dark Horse, is a 12-color arrangement that is diverse in its hues and finishes -- similar to the creative energy that abounds New York.

Cirque nail polish is B3 free, which means it does not contain toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate. Each bottle holds .45 oz / 13.2 ml of product and is hand-mixed by batch using high quality ingredients such as cosmetic-grade pigments and glitter. Organic lavender and clary sage essential oils have been added to lend your hands a subtle scent after the polish dries."

We are just so excited to have Cirque join our line-up here - Annie's polishes made it to a ton of blogger "Top 10 Polish" lists at the end of 2012 and we anticipate that this will continue in the future because her polishes are just so amazing!

I kept Fascination Street, XX and Never Nude (for the obvious Arrested Development reasons) for myself, although I want to keep all of the colours... I will eventually, I'm sure!! ;)

Fascination Street is a vibrant indigo polish with a rainbow holographic finish. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING - enough said, onto pictures!

I took all of these in my lightbox since we had a ton of snow come down yesterday!

XX is a rainbow glitter polish made with over 20 different types of holographic particles. I think I was most excited about this polish - I have a lot of love for glitter, does it show?! ;) I layered one coat over Ozotic Mr. Big Black - which is a great black polish by the way! Not my most original glitter combo but it's a classic! I didn't have to dab to get good glitter placement, it literally just glided on without any issues - AMAZING!

These were taken this morning outside, no flash - the sun was out! I also apologize for my shoddy clean-up job!!

Sadly, these are sold out at the moment, but they'll be back in about 1-2 weeks!!

What do you guys think of Cirque - which ones are your favourites?!

Cheers,
Katie
xoxo

Posted in cirque, glitter, hologram, holographic, indie

NOTD - Femme Fatale Cosmetics Quivering Heart

Posted on January 02, 2013 by Katie Schmidt | 0 Comments

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope you all had a fun & safe holiday season - but now, sadly, we're all back to work - we thought a great way to start the new year would be a sale so make sure you check it out - it ends tonight at 11:59pm EST (January 2, 2013).

So, due to the sale we're going to get a busy start to the year - but I'm going to share my New Years Eve mani with you really quick, because I didn't take pictures with the good camera, just my iPhone so it was posted to Instagram!!

This is Color Club Harp On It with Color Club Blue Heaven on the ring finger - you really can't tell though, they look really similar!! The holographic effect is stunning on these, I absolutely love it - we don't have them in stock right now, but they will be back shortly!!

Now onto my actual NOTD - I'm wearing two coats of Femme Fatale Cosmetics Quivering Heart over OPI Danke-Shiny Red - it's gorgeous, I don't think my pictures do it any justice. Femme Fatale Cosmetics is pretty new to Harlow & Co., but they are definitely gaining popularity. All pictures were taken outside in the sun!!

What do you guys think? What would you layer Quivering Heart over?!?

Cheers,
Katie
xoxo

Posted in femme fatale cosmetics, glitter, indie, nail polish, polish, red

NOTD - piCture pOlish Demeter

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Katie Schmidt | 0 Comments

I can't believe that I haven't posted any swatch photos of my own creation, piCture pOlish Demeter, I wear this shade a lot - it's so gorgeous, but I'm kind of biased. ;)

"for all the down to earth goddesses!

When piCture pOlish asked me what my perfect shade would be - I knew immediately what I wanted - a chocolate brown holographic polish! So they created this earthy subtle scattered holo and it's exactly what I was dreaming of - I couldn't be happier with this shade!

Demeter was the goddess of earth's harvest so we thought it was fitting that Demeter be a celebration for all the down to earth goddesses out there!"

Enough words - onto the gorgeous rich brown polish with scattered holographic particles! All pictures were taken indoors with flash - no top coat was used.

Blurred so you can see the gorgeous holo particles!!!!

This last one - I wanted to glam it up with Femme Fatale Cosmetics Ebon Roses on the tips - I wish my camera was co-operating for this one, because it really is fabulous!!

What do you guys think - love Demeter?!

Cheers,
Katie
xoxo

Posted in brown, chocolate, exclusive, hologram, holographic, picture polish, polish

NOTD - Glitter Gal Belgian Chocolate Holo

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Katie Schmidt | 0 Comments

Just a quickie post for you guys today - I'm "kind of" swamped with our KBShimmer restocks!! :)

My nails are all holo-y today - I used Glitter Gal Belgian Chocolate, two coats - I'm thinking I'll do three next time for more depth, but I love the way that two coats looks. I'm thinking this isn't as "holo" as some of the other Glitter Gal's, but it could be because I put a topcoat over it (gasp, I know, I know - never put a topcoat over a holo) I used Nina Ultra Pro Wet Glaze on top because in the past it hasn't dulled my other holos - live and learn! :)