Comparison: Shimmery Pinks

Today I have a comparison between Sally Hansen Bubblegum Pink, OPI Japanese Rose Garden, and Revlon Temptress. Each of these polishes are pink with fine silver shimmer. You can tell by looking at the bottles that they aren't dupes, but let's see how they compare to each other.




This is two coats of Bubblegum Pink on the pointer finger, two coats of Japanese Rose Garden on the middle and pinky, and two coats of Temptress on the ring finger (no topcoat on any):

Indoors shot; the shimmer in each of these is so fine that it all but disappears in indoor lighting:



Sunlight: there's the shimmer!





Bubblegum Pink is the...barbiest, for lack of a better word. Japanese Rose Garden has a tad bit of dustiness that makes it intersting, and Temptress is the lightest and most neutral of the three.

Formula wise, JRG won, but Temptress wasn't too far behind. BP was a little chalky and hard to work with.

Which do you like best?

Happy painting!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Mystic Lilac

Today I have one of the most beautiful and unique polishes in my stash; Sally Hansen Mystic Lilac. I know you've seen this before, but it's so pretty that I'm sure you won't mind seeing it again :). It's a greyed out lilac with mint green shimmer. Three coats, no topcoat:





Mystic Lilac is pretty sheer, so three coats is probably the minimum you can get away with. Fortunately, the formula is not hard to work with and the drying time is reasonable. I found this at Rite Aid and there were still more on the shelf, so I don't think this is hard to find. An awesome color at a great price and easily accessible; what more could you ask for?

By the way, don't forget that today is the last day to enter my giveaway (details up there on the right of the screen).

Happy painting!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Going Green

Going Green is the perfect St. Patrick's Day shade. It has subtle teal shimmer, which adds something to the base color but doesn't overpower it. I got this color during a deal at Rite-Aid, and I'm so glad I did because I don't have a green like this. This is two coats, no topcoat. For some reason, my pics don't show the vividness of this color. It's brighter in real life.





The formula on this was surprisingly good. Sally Hansen's formulas have been very hit or miss for me, but this one applied like butter. I wore this as a full mani for a few days and had no chips, just minimal tipwear. This one is a winner for me.

Happy painting!

Sally Hansen Sumptuous Petal

With all the talk about OPIs "new" sorbet finish, I thought I'd pull out one of my favorite jellies. Sumptuous Petal was part of the Spring 2008 Sally Hansen Collection by Tracy Reese. At the time of its release, I went to every drugstore within a 15 mile radius looking for it (and Arabian Night), but to no avail. Thankfully a sweet poster on the Long Haircare Forum, where my nail obsession started, sent me Sumptuous Petal.

SP is a coral-pink jelly. It looks like it could fit right in with the new OPI Texas sorbet polishes. It's fresh and springy with a hint of juiciness lol. This is five, yes FIVE coats, no topcoat.

Shade:


Sunlight:



Formula wise, this was obviously very sheer, but it was nice to work with. Each coat went on smoothly and dried quickly. I'm impatient, so the five coats should have been very tedious, but each coat applied so well, it was fine. The polish is a little brighter than my pics show.

Why five coats? I could have gotten away with three, but there was just too much VNL for me. Am I the only one who builds my jellies that way?

Happy painting!

Sally Hansen Baroque Bronze

This polish is about as close to gold as I will ever get. Golds completely wash me out and make my hands look gross. This polish narrowly escapes that description only because it's fairly dark. Baroque Bronze is, well, bronze with gold shimmer. Another reason I like it is that the brushstrokes aren't too pronounced. Brushstrokes pretty much ruin all metallic polishes for me.

Two coats, no topcoat.






The formula was nice, which I've found to be true of most of the SH Salon polishes I've tried. Baroque Bronze was part of the Sally Hansen Runway Collection, designed by fashion designer Tracy Reese.

Happy Painting!