Barielle's Carnival Fiesta Collection (Winter 2012).

I love it when I get some unexpected nail mail... Especially, when it's from Barielle. When I opened up the box I was pleasantly surprised to see some new shimmers and duochromes. Two of these are game changers and the other three are good staples for any polish lover.

Since my fingers have been super dry due to the cooler weather I opted not to do full swatches on my actual finger nails. Instead, I chose to wear one of the new colors on my nails for a few days and I swatched the others on a nail wheel.


Green Opal, Wanna Samba?, and Holiday Madness.



Green Opal, Wanna Samba?, and Holiday Madness,


First is my absolute favorite; Wanna Samba? Yes, yes, I do! Especially with you! This is a wicked shimmer that shifts from teal green to purple (It's the middle swatch in the above photo). I'm so in love with this; it just might be my birthday polish (Jan. 19th). I used 2 coats for the swatch. It's got some brushstrokes in it but it's less noticeable in real life. I bet layering this over black would make the color shift even more intense. Formula was thin and easy to work with.

Holiday Madness is pretty rad (It's the swatch to the right in the above photo). It's a tweaked holiday green; it makes me think of Whoville. It's a shimmery chartreuse green. When I first spotted it I thought it would be similar to Barielle's Green Opal (Swatch to the left in the above photo). They are very close but Green Opal is more yellow toned and leans more brown. Green Opal also has more shimmer in it. I chose to wear Holiday Madness on my nails; I like that it's a different type of green for the holiday season. This one has brushstrokes which is a bit of a bummer, but if you're careful you can minimize them. Formula was a little thick but still easy to apply. It ended up drying with some bubbles.

Holiday Madness.

Holiday Madness (Shade).



Lindsay's Dancin'.



Lindsay's Dancin'.

Lindsay's Dancin' is a ruby red shimmer. I usually don't care for reds but for some reason I'm really into them right now. I put this on my toes (per my husbands selection) and it just lights up when the light hits it. This is a really nice staple red. If you are low on bright, shimmery reds, I think you will love this. Formula on this is fantastic; an easy one coater. My swatch shows two coats. It's one of those polishes that just melts onto your nails.




Jillian's Jammin'.



Jillian's Jammin'.

Jillian's Jammin' is the other unique color in this collection. It's bright blue microglitter in a sheer blue base. It shifts from blue to purple. It's so sheer that it's hard to build up to opacity. My swatch shows 3 coats on the left and one coat over black on the right. Either way you can see the shift to purple but I prefer it over black. You could layer it over any color but it was a little streaky on the 1st coat. The formula is a little thin but still easy to work with.



Rio's Rockin' Bands.



Rio's Rockin' Bands.


Rio's Rockin' Bands is a red toned purple shimmer; almost magenta. This one is pretty but not too unique. It's got some brushstrokes so of course careful application will help. It was almost a one coater but I did 2 for my swatch. Formula was nice and easy to apply.

I love the Barielle brushes; they fan out beautifully on the nail and make application super easy.

This collection is pretty fun; it totally made me think of Mardi Gras! I think all of these would be great for the holidays except for Wanna Samba?, but it's such an awesome polish I'm glad they included it. I also love that they threw a few twists in the collection. I get my Barielle Shades on their website at www.barielle.com. Their nail lacquers are always Buy One, Get One Half Off. You can also buy their boxed collections. I've heard that you can find them at a few other online sites and sometimes you can find them at Ulta.

So, what are your favorites out of this collection? Will you be picking any of these up?

Note: Barielle is against animal testing.