NOTD: Neon POP!

*Disclaimer--I purchased the following products*

Summer seems to be flying by--it's nearly the 4th and my daughter will be going to college orientation in a few weeks.

I wanted to do something bright and fun before I did a patriotic mani, and I was totally drawn to KBShimmer's 2013 Summer collection. Ever since I discovered this Indie brand, I have been in LUST with every release. This collection did not disappoint either! It reminded me of summer and the 80's--a great combo. I graduated from highschool in 1988. Yes, I'm 43 and walking around with neon colors on my nails ;)

I'm not a huge fan of "crellys" or semi-opaque polishes with glitter (matte or shiny). But when I saw KBShimmer's What's Your Damage, I had to get it--and I knew I wanted to do a mani around it. The base is a creamy off-white and it's jam-packed full of hot pink, green, and black matte glitter in dots and shreds. It needed 3 coats to really get good coverage and hide VNL. I had considered putting down a coat of white polish first, but decided to go without. I really love it!

It is not hard to get all the different glitters on the nail--especially with multiple coats. A few glitter stuck out on the end of my nail, so I gently smoothed it out while still wet. It needed a couple of coats of clear topcoat to smooth it out. I think I like it shiny rather than "natural" but I am sure some may like it with a matte topcoat.

Naturally another polish from this collection went perfectly with it--Don't Pink Twice. It is a fantastic searing hot pink with a very faint blue shimmer. I see it more in the bottle than on the nail but even so, it is AWESOME. OH! It shows up in the photos, yay!

It dries matte and looks great that way but I added topcoat to unify the manicure. I used 3 coats. There is still some VNL but it's not that obvious to me. Some recommend using white under neons to make them pop even more. I normally put on "undies" in my manicures but it makes the process longer, and I like the "depth".

I was torn between several green polishes, but eventually an earlier KBShimmer release Key Lime Pie won out (it's now discontinued..sorry if I created a lemming!) It's a glitterbomb of green, gold and white in a bright green jelly base. The glitter takes several forms--bars (which I'm not usually a fan of), dots and hexes. This needs a few coats of topcoat to smooth it out and some of the glitter can stick out. I used 3 coats for this as well.

Blue shimmer!

And now for the bottle shots!

KBShimmer L-R Don't Pink Twice, What's Your Damage?, Key Lime Pie

All but Key Lime Pie are available through KBShimmer.com as well as her Etsy store KBShimmer. She also sells a variety of other products including cuticle oil, soaps (NOM), and other bath & body products.

How is your summer going? Do you like neons for this time of year? I'd love to hear from you!