Burb Beauty

Of course, the impetus for my posting these swatches is the release of the summer collection! Better late than never, I suppose. Let's talk about these pretties!

2 coats

Deborah Lippmann Spring Buds is a pistachio green creme. This shade and I do not usually play well together. Something about the yellow tone in it makes my hands look strange. I much prefer a minty green. It sure is pretty to look at, though.

2 coats

Deborah Lippmann Flowers in Her Hair is a mint green creme. It has a touch more blue in it than a true mint green, which I'm a totally digging.

2 coats

Deborah Lippmann Blue Orchid is a sky blue creme. It manages to have both a softness and vibrancy that makes it so much more than just another pastel blue. It's clean, bright, and I've been wearing this way more often than I should. Oh well, my pile of untrieds will just have to wait. :)

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann La Vie En Rose is a sheer, milky pink base with golden pink shimmer. It's so delicately beautiful, you can't help but love it.

2 coats

Deborah Lippman Build Me Up Buttercup is a pale yellow creme. I don't often reach for yellow, but when I do, it's always a pale one. I do appreciate having a couple pale yellows in my collection because they pair so well with so many other shades.

There's one more shade, Tip Toe Through the Tulips, that I want to share, but I need to take new pics of it. None of my shots were even close color accurate.

The formula on these was quite nice on these with the exception of La Vie En Rose. It was more streaky than I'd like, and I experienced some running and pooling with it as well. If she can get her pastels to apply nicely, surely a milky sheer shouldn't be so difficult.

Deborah Lippman Spring Reveries collection retails for $18 each and is available at Sephora.

Spring has sprung! Kind of, at least. I've officially packed away all my winter clothes, so of course snow popped up in next week's forecast. Oh well, I'll always have my nails to remind me what season it is. Today I have a swatch of Dior Bloom to show you.

Hey dolls! The ladies behind the Beauty Envy Bag Giveaway have come together to share some our favorite Radiant Orchid products with one lucky person. I'm sure you all didn't think we just wanted to show them off last week in our first themed post! In case you are a new reader, here is a quick look at the bloggers behind the giveaway.

Lola is a Midwest blogger with a passion for polish, science, and music. She is the blogger behind Burb Beauty.

Lakeisha is a nail polish blogger living in Georgia. She is obsessed with polish, fashion, and merging the two together. She is the blogger behind Refined and Polished.

Leticia is a beauty blogger from the Pacific Northwest. She is a dog lover, sci fi nerd, handbag collector, and makeup junkie. She is the blogger behind Cosmetics Aficionado.

Latoya is a beauty blogger from the East Coast of Canada. While she loves all things girly, she also has a serious geeky side. She is the blogger behind Beauty Obsessed.

So what is going into that gorgeous makeup bag? Read on! (Links to each blogger's reviews included)

• Essie Splash of Grenadine
• L’Oreal Color Caresse Shine Stain in Stubborn Plum
• Mentality in Wily & Sorceress
• Sephora Formula X in Gemini & Harmonics
• Sugarpill Poison Plum Eyeshadow

So how do you enter? Here’s the lowdown:

• You must leave a blog comment (just on one blog, doesn’t have to be all four) letting us know whether you've tried any Radiant Orchid products this year. If so, tell us about them.
• Score additionally entries by following each blog on social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).
• Giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only (sorry, this is due to issues with overseas mail and nail polish).
• Must be 18 years of age or older.
• Giveaway closes Saturday, April 5th at 12:00a EST.
• Winner has 48 hours to respond to our email or a new winner will be chosen.
• Giveaway is not sponsored by anyone.
• Note: We are not responsible for items lost, damaged, or stolen in transit. If the prize is lost, we will not be sending a replacement, nor will we provide money for the value of the prize. We are not responsible for any customs fees you may incur.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Radiant Orchid is Pantone's pick for 2014, and it is beautiful. Finally, a color of the year that I actually like! I teamed up with my three of my favorite people to share some products that closely resembled this stunning shade. Fun, right??

I have so many Spring things to show you! I'm determined to get all my spring 2014 swatches up before May, so this should (hopefully) be a fun month!

Anyway, onto this pretty...

1 coat over Dior Porcelaine

Dior Perle is a cloudy base with purple iridescent shimmer. It's meant to be a topcoat, so I applied it over Porcelaine because Perle definitely looks best over lighter colors. The cloudy base makes darker shades look...just plain ugly. The matte finish makes the shimmer extra glowy; it's a nice touch.

The formula is nice enough to allow you to apply one coat without any streaks. Perfect for layering. My only gripe is that the base limits its combo possibilities.

Dior 187 Perle retails for $25 and is available at Nordstrom.

2 coats

Dior Bouquet is a salmon pink creme/borderline crelly. It's a bit brighter in person. Salmon pinks, lilac and lavenders are probably my favorite shades to wear because they're just so bright and cheery. I could probably find something very close to Bouquet in my stash, but I'm still happy to add it to my collection. If you do decide to pick this shade up, you can expect the same luscious, self-leveling formula of most other Dior polishes. Yay!

Dior 457 Bouquet retails for $24 and is available at Sephora.

I was swatching the new Ciate Doll House collection, which is a mini set of six "porcelain finish" polishes, and I had to stop and do a full mani with Poppet because it's gorgeous!

3 coats Ciate Poppet stamped with Konad White

Ciate Poppet is a pale lilac with a bit more pink in it than what's showing up in my swatch. The finish is an extremely smooth, matte creme that really does look and feel like porcelain. I stamped Poppet with an image from BM-404 and Konad White. It reminds me of wallpaper, and I want to put it on my walls!

I'll have a full review and swatches of all of the polishes in this set up soon.