Barielle Gondola Ride & Midnight in Paris

 *Barielle products provided for honest and unbiased review*

Good morning, afternoon, evening or whatever time it may be in your neck of the woods!  We're well into autumn weather here in Chicago and the shorter days and brisk temperatures have me setting aside my bright polishes for deeper and more muted tones.  Today's post is all about two such polishes.  Barielle is a brand I've loved for awhile now.  As if dependable quality and great selection were not enough, Barielle's low prices and great sales endeared me to the brand long before they approached me to review for them.  Both of the polishes I have to show you today are from their Fall 2014 Jetsetter collection and they're definitely right on trend for the season!

Gondola Ride is a sage creme with a touch of grey.  This is definitely more of an earthy, fall color than a spring green and I can see it being a great neutral for a semi-progressive work environment.  I'm fortunate to have a job that doesn't dictate my nail color, but I'd feel comfortable wearing Gondola Ride just about anywhere.

Gondola Ride is opaque in 2-3 coats and I'm showing 3 coats here with one coat of Barielle's No Chip Speed Dry top coat (review to follow in a few days).  Easy application with no dragging.  It was a touch streaky for the first coat, but evened out nicely with the second and third coats.

 If you're looking for a great way to transition green polish into the fall season, Gondola Ride is a perfect way to start!
 

Midnight in Paris is pretty much just as beautiful as its name.  A deep blurple metallic with a subtl shimmer, Midnight in Paris adds a touch of dramatic sophistication to your mani.  I had a hard time photographing this one, and it actually has quite a bit more purple in than is shown.  It will also vary depending on the light.

Midnight in Paris is opaque in 1-2 coats and I'm wearing 2 coats here with one coat of the No Chip Speed Dry on top.  This is almost a one coater, but the formula is not overly thick.  I have no application issues to report. 
 

If you're a blurple fanatic or just looking for a dramatic fall color, Midnight in Paris is a great addition to your collection!

Both Gondola Ride and Midnight in Paris are currently available on Barielle's website for $8 for a full size 13.3 ml bottle.  To keep up with special offers and new releases, you can sign up for Barielle's emails on their website or follow them on Facebook.

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed the post!

Voter Appreciation Giveaway!

Hi there!  I'm sponsoring a little giveaway to thank all of you that voted for me during Barielle's Mardi Gras Manicure Contest.  Thanks to you all, I won a $100 gift certificate to Barielle!  I decided to use some of the winnings to host a little giveaway to thank you all.  (You are not required to have voted to participate in the giveaway, the more the merrier!) 

Let me show you what's up for grabs!

Barielle Elle's Spell* & Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Midnight Glitz

 Barielle Falling Star* & Sephora by O.P.I. Ruby Without a Cause

 Barielle Shannon's Attitude* & Sinful Colors Green Ocean

*I don't have actual bottle shots of the Barielle polishes as they are currently being shipped to me.  These photos are from Barielle's website.

And now for the rules.  I regret that I can't offer international shipping on this one, but you are welcome to participate if you have a U.S. shipping address.

1. Must be 18 years old or have a parent/guardian's permission to enter.
2. U.S. entries only.  International entrants may enter if they have a U.S. shipping address.
3. Once prizes are shipped, I bear no responsibility for lost or damaged items.  I pack things with care, but have no control over them once the items have left my possession.
4. One winner for each prize pack will be drawn randomly using Rafflecopter.  I will email the winners and they will have 48 hours to claim their prize.  If I do not receive a response within 48 hours, I will redraw a new winner for that prize.
5. Only the first two entries are mandatory.  The rest are optional, but remember, more entries increases your chances of winning.
6. The giveaway is open for entries beginning Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 12 AM and closes on Sunday, March 23, 2014 at 12 AM.

That sums everything up I think.  If you have any questions, please email me at ndirks@hotmail.com or PM me on Facebook.  You can enter via the widget below. 

Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Barielle Mardi Gras Manicure Contest Entry

Hey everyone!  Hope your weekend has been lovely.  It's been pretty good for me...got to visit a friend's brand new baby who is as cute as a button :)  And with a WSU Shockers basketball win for a perfect season AND a Chicago Blackhawks win last night at Soldier Field, it was an awesome sports weekend as well!

Anyway, I wanted to take a minute to show you guys my Barielle Mardi Gras Manicure Contest entry.  I've entered a few of their contests and haven't won yet, so I'm crossing my fingers on this one!  The prize is a $100 gift certificate...think of the polish I could snag with that!

I basically tried to pack as many Mardi Gras-related ideas as I could in this manicure.  Mostly it relies on the colors of Mardi Gras; green, purple and gold/yellow.   I used all Barielle colors.  The green is Sweet Addiction, the yellow is Lemondrops, and the purple glitter on my pinky is called Purple Hearts.   I added accents with glitter, studs and striping tape.  The mask on my index finger is actually a large bat-shaped glitter that I turned upside down and then painted on :)

If you are at all interested in voting for me, not only would I really appreciate it, but you know some of that $100 gift certificate will end up as giveaway prizes ;)   The contest is open for voting through Monday, March 3 at midnight EST. All you have to do is follow this link, scroll til you see my name (Natalie Dirks) and then click on the voting box next to my entry.  It's pretty easy!  

Thank you so much!

Barielle Halloween Manicure Contest Entry

Heya folks!  Hope everyone is ready for Halloween!  I've got one last spooky manicure for the season.  I've entered this one into Barielle's Halloween Manicure contest so you all know what's coming next lol  If you'd like to vote for my version of Frankenstein and his bride, you can click here and "like" the photo.   If you'd rather not vote, that's totally fine as well :)  I hope you enjoy the manicure just the same!

I used all Barielle polishes for this one and, as I don't have very many and none in very "Halloween-y" colors, this was a bit difficult.  I used Lemondrops, Purple Hearts, and Sweet Addiction.  I'm quite proud of Franky, but I wish I'd have gotten more of the Bride's hair in there so you could tell better who she is.  The rest of my nails are water marbled in different colors.

Voting is only open through Oct. 31st at noon, so I'm running pretty late with this one but I wanted to give it a shot nonetheless.  Again, you can vote here by "liking" the photo...pretty easy, peasy!

Thanks so much for reading!

ABC Challenge: Y is for Yellow and You're Such A Square

Hi, everyone!  I'm starting with a public service announcement here.  As many of you know, Google Reader is leaving us as of July 1st...which, believe it or not, is next week!!  I'm really not sure what this means for everyone who follows my blog via GFC, but if you want to make sure you're updated when I post, you can follow me via Bloglovin'.  The easiest way to do that is to click on the "Follow this blog with bloglovin'" button to the right of this post, or you can go here and click "Follow" as well.  I hope you all will continue to follow me!  And now, on to my ABC Challenge post!

OMG!  We only have one letter left after this week!  I can't believe this challenge is almost over.  Makes me a little sad, I've had so much fun with this.  Anyway, this week's ABC Challenge letter is 'Y'.  I kind of went for the obvious here, but I do like how it turned out.  Take a peek:

'Y' here mostly stands for yellow, although I did use Hit Polish's You're Such a Square, so I managed to get 2 in there!  I started with 2 (ish) coats of Barielle's Lemondrops, a bright, true yellow creme.  My intention was to do a chevron french manicure, so I taped of the chevrons on the tips of my nails and then applied 2-3 coats of YSAS.

YSAS is pretty magical as far as I'm concerned.  It has bunches and bunches of several sizes of squares in every color of the rainbow, including holographic, all packed into a clear base.  Y'all know I love my dots, but these squares are adorable!   You'll also notice that my chevron tips didn't really work out too well.  The idea is there, but the glitter doesn't give enough definition to the line, in my opinion.  That said, I'm really diggin' this manicure.  It's cheery and fun and from a distance, it just looks like a glitter gradient.

Hit Polish (formerly D&R Apothecary) can be found on their etsy store and Rachel currently has a 20% off sale going.  There are some real beauties up there, including YSAS, so be sure to check her out!

I'm looking forward to checking out the other ladies' nails this week.  I'm certain there are more creative creations than mine!  You can find those manis via the thumbnails below.  As always, thanks so much for reading!