Wednesday, July 5, 2017

I,A.M...Custom Color Cosmetics: Mediterranean Summer 2017

Press Sample

Greetings, dear readers, and happy hump day! For those of you in the USA, I hope you had a wonderful and safe 4th of July holiday with family and friends! I'm still getting over this bug that I picked up from one of my kids, so the holiday was uneventful and filled with lots of rest for me. I'm trying to take it easy this week in general in the hopes that I'm back to my normal self by the time I leave for Las Vegas for Cosmoprof North America! Until then, I have to take a vacation through my nails, and what better way to do it that with the Mediterranean Summer Collection by I,A.M...Custom Color Cosmetics!

Ashlie, the creative mastermind behind the brand, set out earlier this year to create a travelogue series for her collections this year. Our nails voyaged to French Polynesia with the Tahitian Spring Collection, and this summer, we now partake of a trip to the Mediterranean. There are six destinations for the new upcoming collection, so let's grab those passports and jump in!

Amalfi Coast
Two coats plus top coat


 Heading a little south of Sorrento in Italy is the Amalfi Coast. Greenish blue waters with little islands ( really just rocks) protruding out of the coast line with little palm trees on them. The drive is amazing and second only to my PCH! So of course a very similar color to PCH had to be made. This one though is a creme/crelly with blue/green shimmers, micro and iridescent flakies, a few glitters and some scattered holo throughout. This is the perfect muted neon aqua turquoise color and I am currently wearing it on my toes!

It's no secret that I love the ocean, and I just had to start out this post with one of my favorite shades from this collection! I adore this shade of green-blue, and I could stare at this for hours! The colour is glorious, and I particularly love the flashes of sparkle as I turn my nails. There are also beautiful iridescent flakes that add a touch of ethereal blue to the nails, and it is best seen when this polish is applied with thinner coats. The formula of my bottle was a little on the thicker side, and while it was still pretty easy to work with, it did make showcasing the iridescent flakes more difficult. I am crazy about this particular colour so I'll definitely be wearing it a lot although I'll likely add a few drops of polish thinner if only to help thin out the base and show off those flakes more.

Malta in Ruins
Two coats plus top coat


Popping further south and out to the middle of the sea is the island nation of Malta! A gorgeous mix of Italian, Arab and African culture and languages, Malta has an ancient history that dates back to the beginnings of civilized man. A burgeoning mix of antiquity and modern, the juxtaposition of what it is to be Maltese is ever at the forefront. Malta is scattered with ancient ruins and that is what inspired this polish. Recently, just a few months ago, Malta lost one of its iconic landmarks, the Azure Window- https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20170308/local/the-azure-window-lost-and-gone-forever.641810. So this polish and name couldn't ring more true. I did not get to go to Malta on my adventures but it is one I would love to visit and is on my bucket list. This color is hard to describe. To give away proprietary information, it is technically a pewter shimmer base with Purple/Red/Green/Yellow shifting pigment and Green to Copper UCC flakies throughout. What came out was a nudish/taupey color with reddish/green shimmers throughout. Very unique to my repertoire and I believe it will be to your collections as well.

Malta in Ruins is arguably my favorite shade in this collection! I definitely agree with Ashlie's comment that it is rather unique to my collection, and I'm left wishing this was in my life sooner! I enjoy a great nude shade from time to time in general, but this one is exquisite! The formula is a little on the thicker side, but it still applied flawlessly to the nails with no extra effort needed.

La Palma My Heart
Two coats plus top coat

This is where it gets a little out of sync. There is technically an island north west of Malta off the coast of Spain called Mallorca, with a very large city called Palma. However, this is not the Palma we speak of in this story. Pop out of the Gibralter straight and into the Atlantic, off the coast of the Western Sahara/Morocco and you find the Spanish Canary Islands, and in particular, La Palma, almost shaped like a heart carved from its Volcanic nature. It has rich red earth due to its volcanic past and if you know me, I love Volcanoes! Again, this is a bucket list island for me, but I honor it today in polish! This Red Crelly polish has red shimmers, micro flakies and chameleon glitters throughout. It is truly magical and a wonderful polish!

I might have died from excitement when I first unwrapped this gorgeous polish! La Palma My Heart is a deliciously sparkled tomato red that I just can't seem to get enough of over the summer, especially on my toes! Not only is the colour to die for, I found the formula to be perfect: not too thick or thin, I have no issues to report regarding application.

Nice Glass
Three coats plus top coat

Nice, France (said like Niece) is a gorgeous city on the coast of southern France. Located next to the infamous Monaco, it is where the rich of the rich getaway and go to dine. For the rest of us non yacht-ers, we get the accessible city of Nice. A smallish beach town with arts, shops, food and topless beach clubs, what isn't there to love? Maybe the non sand? The beaches range from pebbles to rocks and due to this the beach clubs charge for admission as well as to have chairs or loungers and umbrellas, but with drink and food service, how can you say no? While topless beaches sound great, its not, because the beautiful keep their tops on and what you are left with are... Well, lets just say the less beautiful! What Nice does offer in exchange is an amazing array of beach glass. I spent hours combing the rocks for little glistening treasures and they still sit in a jar on my bookshelf! This white Creme-crelly polish has blue, green shimmers, iridescent micro flakies and a little scattered holo throughout. A subtle but gorgeous polish!

I've never really given much through to traveling to Nice before, but Ashlie's description has me convinced that I must go! I am obsessed with looking for "treasures", and beach glass is just that! I'm delighted to see it inspired this polish, and I adore the little pops of colour produced by the shimmer. I was also pleasantly surprised at how well Nice Glass applied to my nails as white shades are notorious for being finicky. The first two coats were a little patchy and uneven, but the third coat evened everything out beautifully. Some readers may find they only need two coats for opacity.

Lemme Chillo This Summer
Two coats plus top coat


This Bright yellow creme/crelly has strong red shimmers, flakies, UCC flakies and chameleon glitters throughout. The name is a play on words for Limoncello, if you have never had it before, save yourself. It is nasty. At least the sample I had in Sorrento, Italy was. This is a strong lemon flavored liquor. The Lemons used to make it are the size of soccer balls and so tasty and fresh. But Limoncello (said Li-mon-chello) was disgusting. To me, I am not a drinker, but the wines throughout the region were delicious, so there is that. I felt that the color was perfect for summer and I had to pay homage to the drink that made Sorrento stick in my brain!

If you're all about bright colours for the summer, Lemme Chillo This Summer is for you! This shade is sure to grab everyone's attention, and I especially love the addition of the shimmers, flakies, and glitters! While I have quite an assortment of brighter yellows in my collection, the additional components of Lemme Chillo This Summer makes it unique to my collection, and in my personal opinion, more wearable on its own. I was amazed at the formula of this stunner: it was surprisingly easy to apply to the nails with a hint of unevenness on the first coat but self-leveled beautifully with the second.

Côte d'Azur
Two coats plus top coat

Côte d'Azur (said Coat dah-zure) or the French Riviera is inclusive of places like Marseilles, St. Tropez, Cannes, Nice and Monaco! It has lovely blue ocean waters and a atmosphere that can't be matched! The wine, the food, the arts and the weather are all parts of what make this region the tops! This color is a light cloud blue with almost a hint of grey and throughout it hosts tons of bronze and copper shimmers, flecks and Micro flakies along with some scattered holographic. Cannot beat this one. I am currently sporting it on my fingers and when it hits the sun, look out!!!

Oh my goodness! With my love of the ocean, I'm sure it is no surprise that Côte d'Azur took my breath away. The bronze and copper are the perfect compliment to the soft blue base, and I suspect this delicate shade will be a fan favorite from the collection. This polish was sublime and applied easily to my nails without any issue.


As gorgeous as these polishes are, I'm a little sad to say this concludes the Mediterranean Summer Collection by IAMCCC. All six shades offer something special to your nails, and I'm having a difficult time choosing a single favorite. If I *had* to choose just one, I would say Malta in Ruins may be my top pick if only because it is so unique to my collection, but all six shades are truly spectacular and you can't go wrong with any of them.

The Mediterranean Summer Collection will be launching on the I,A.M...Custom Color Cosmetics website this Friday, July 7th. Bottles are 0.5 oz/15 ml, and they will retail for $10 each. Please note that these polishes will be made available in limited quantities only, and once they sell out, they will not be restocked on the site.

Do you have a favorite shade from this collection? Have they made you add the Mediterranean to your bucket list like they have for me? Where else would you like to see IAMCCC take us for the travelogue series this year? I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!
XO!


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