Shades by Barielle Polished Princess

Today's manicure is Shades by Barielle Polished Princess. Ugh, that name makes me want to barf. Anyways, this is a frosty golden green with orange and green microglitter - much in the style of several BB Couture greens I have.
It is thin and runny and requires a minimum of 3 coats. This mani has not achieved opacity and shows some brush strokes.
I decided to test out a few matte-ifying top coats, since matte polish has resurfaced as the "it thing". It's cheaper to buy a bottle of matte top coat and slap it on your existing polishes, after all, than buying up a bunch of matte polishes while they're cool.
This mani is one coat Barielle Camouflage, three coats polish, and one coat Nubar Diamont.



Here are the matte top coats: Essie Matte About You, Rescue Beauty Lounge Matte Top Coat, and Orly Matte Top.

Here are the top coats slapped onto my mani from two nights ago.

Matte Top gives a satin finish, while Essie MAY, and RBL Matte Top Coat have a similar flat matte finish. I tested using a shea butter hand lotion on all three of these and it doesn't appear to affect the finish. We'll have to see how they wear.

Shades by Barielle Falling Star

Today's manicure is Shades by Barielle Falling Star. This is a new shade from the "All Lacquered Up Collection" which was co-designed by Michelle from ALU and released mid-August.
The first collection from Barielle released fall of last year made it into CVS, but I believe that this collection can only be purchased on the Barielle site. There are 12 shades in this collection and the site always has a buy two, get one free promo. I like their black creme Monique Jet and they have a few nice greens.
I think this is the standout of the ALU collection in terms of color. It's a vivid blue creme with chunky, but sparse copper glitter.
Unfortunately, the formula is not great - I have several other barielles that have great formulas, but this one is a pita. I did my nails last night while watching a double feature of Wanted and Fight Club, and I was too lazy to get up and grab some thinner from the other room. This polish is runny and thick. One coat is super chunky and patchy. I did three coats to smooth it out and it's still not opaque or smooth. This polish DEMANDS thinner. All the coats made bubbles, so these aren't the prettiest pictures, but you'll get a feel for the fantastic shade. The copper glitter is so unexpected. It's subtle, but makes the polish pop.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, three coats polish, and one coat Nubar Diamont.


Avoid potholes.

These two are indoors with flash from right after I finished my mani last night. The glitter stands out better, but the blue appears brighter than irl.