Barielle Summer 2010 Collection: High Steppin' ~ Part I

Shades by Barielle Gets Groovy With Summer 2010 Polish Collection High Steppin'. For summer 2010, boogie down with new disco-inspired nail polishes in the High Steppin' collection from Shades by Barielle. Six metallic hues and Barielle's signature healthy "3-free" formulation make hands and feet dance with style.

Flashing back to the 70's, get groovy with Electric Boogie--an inky metallic blue with teal glitter; shake it up with Belly Dance--a nude taupe with shimmer; party until dawn with Night Moves--a sparkling metallic silver; turn it around with Passion Pirouette--a grape metallic purple; sway to the style with Slow Motion--a light metallic lavender and let loose with Freestyle--a cool metallic mint with silver glitter.

Celebrity Manicurist Elle says, "When creating this collection, we wanted to pump up the volume on nail hues. Inspired by bright summer whites, we injected some high-voltage color into any look from bikini to boardwalk."

Above & Below: Electric Boogie is truly stunning (that's why it has more photos!). The text above is from Barielle's press release and unless I'm misunderstanding something, this is not a metallic. It's a deep sapphire blue shimmer with teal glitter that flashes the most beautiful blue-green with the slightest movement (the glitter flashes, not the polish). I was amazed at not only the color itself, but the coverage was excellent. I used 2 coats and could easily have gotten away with just 1.

Below: Slow Motion is what I would call a pearlescent lavender-gray metallic. I used 2 coats and for a metallic, the brush strokes were minimal. This takes on more of a grey look in brighter lighting, although you can definitely see the underlying lavender. It's color is subtle, but the finish adds an element of elegance.

Below: Night Moves reminds me of Orly's Foil FX polishes, only the shimmer is much finer. It's a very bright silver, and has both a foil and glitter finish. This also was done using 2 coats.

Below: A Macro shot of the finishes.

This collection has a wide range of colors and finishes, and although they may not seem like colors that we equate with summer, they are definitely colors that will work well with the season and add some fun to your style. When I read the press release, I got a little nervous thinking they were all metallics, in the sense of 'metallic=brush strokes'. Passion Pirouette and Slow Motion are the only two that are what I would consider metallics. The formula was very good on these, and just the right consistency. All three of the shades I've tried so far are nice, but Barielle has a way of making darker glitters like no one else--remember Blackened Bleu--and Electric Boogie is no exception. I literally gasped upon the first stroke! If you scroll down to my first post today, you can see bottle pictures of the entire collection. I'll be posting the other 3 shades tomorrow. Oddly, I don't see a release date noted, but I would imagine they should be available before the end of April.

*Products featured were furnished by the manufacturer or PR firm for review.