Ulta: For Bitten

For Bitten was released last year with the Glam Goth mini-collection, but I just got my hands on it a few weeks ago. It has a black base with red and gold duochrome shimmer. It's simply gorgeous. Behold, two coats, no topcoat:






This was my first Ulta polish ever, and I was pleased because the formula was on par with my favorite brands. My favorite part about this shade? It doesn't look black indoors. It still has character and depth, no matter the lighting.

Not bad for my first foray into the world of Ultas, right?

Happy painting!

Cover Girl: Purplexed

Purplexed is a pretty cool duochrome. The base is a purple shimmer, and it flashes green and amber. Sad to say, but of all the purple duochromes in all the world, this has to be my least favorite. This is four coats, no topcoat.







Sunlight:




The formula was ok, but this is really, really sheer. That's not even why it's my least favorite, though. The purple is just so very meh. It's not deep or vivid or vibrant. It's just boring and washed out. Don't get me wrong, the duochrome effect is nice, but I can't get past the dull color to care. On someone else, this might be a winner, but I don't like at all on me.

Happy painting!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the chance to win some cool polishes, including a hard to find OPI!

Milani: Totally Cool

Milani Totally Cool is...there are no words. It's a purple jelly with purple, pink, blue, and gold duochrome-y shimmer. I can't even describe how gorgeous it is, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. Three coats, no topcoat.





I had no issues with the formula. I had to build it up with it being a jelly, but it was worth it. Totally Cool is part of the core Milani line and can be purchased on their website, but I've never seen it at any of the drugstores I've been to (and I've been to a LOT). I actually happened upon this one at the new beauty supply place I mentioned before. Sadly, I won't be going back there again, but that's a blog post for another day.

For now, I will just stare at my nails and marvel. Shall I dub this polish "firefly pee"? ;-)

By the way, don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Happy painting!

Part 2...Color Club Alter Ego Collection: Swatches and Review

Today I have part two of the Alter Ego Collection: Keep it Under Cover. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by these. The shades are vibrant and textured, and a couple of them are unique. This is obviously the portion of the collection that was designed for those who like to be bold and daring. Check it out:


Masquerading. Pale greyish-blue frost. This one is odd. First of all, I saw it in the bottle and totally expected it to be sheer. It just had that look to it. Yes, I prejudged. This is a one-coater yall. ONE COAT. Also odd is the texture. I don't think I've ever seen a finish like this. The formula was pretty thick, but not difficult to work with.




Secret Agent. Rich purple frost with purple shimmer. Two coats. I apologize for my fingers, but I couldn't get my camera to pick up the purple no matter how hard I tried. I had to adjust the color to make it color accurate , which resulted in Incredible Hulk fingers. I plan to re-swatch and get some sunlight pics tomorrow if it doesn't rain. This one may be similar to China Glaze Coconut Kiss, but with one difference; in indoor lighting, it looks a little dusky/smoky, which I like.




Alter Ego. Silver with gold (?) flecks and foil finish. Two coats. This one looks like your typical silver foil polish, but the goldish flecks make it unique for me.






Ulterior Motive. Vibrant fuchsia with blue shimmer and foil finish. Two coats. I absolutely love this one. It's just...so gorgeous. I also thought this one would be on the sheer side, but it wasn't. The blue shimmer is very visible on the nail. This one is unique for me as well.





Total Mystery. Royal blue with fuchsia shimmer. Two coats. I love this one too, but not as much as Ulterior Motive, the yin to its yang. Unfortunately, the pink shimmer refused to show up in my pictures, but it is visible in real life. May be somewhat similar to Orly Lunar Eclipse. By the way, this was the only one I used a topcoat on. It dried almost to a matte finish. I used the Color Club Vivid topcoat that came in the set.








Finally, the winner of the collection.

Alias. Purple shimmery foil duochrome that flashes green and gold. And I probably still didn't describe it right, but it's awesome. May be in the vicinity of Orly Out of This World.






Formula-wise, these were much better than those in the first part of the collection.

Final verdict: I think Color Club did a great job with this part of the collection. None of them were boring to me, and a couple were unique. I think they could have released this as a stand alone. I would have paid full price for Alias, Ulterior Motive, Total Mystery, and Alter Ego. I don't have anything like any of them in my stash.

What do you think?

Happy painting!

Comparison: Black Tie Optional vs. Hard Edged

In my post about Rimmel Hard Edged, I wondered how close it was to OPI Black Tie Optional. I did some comparison swatches and now I see that they are fairly close. Check out these photos and see if you can tell which is which. Ring and index finger have one shade and middle and pinky have another.

Shade:


Indoors:







Sunlight:





Can you tell? I'll tell you; BTO is on the index and ring fingers, and Hard Edged is on the middle and pinky fingers. In the shade, BTO is darker and more purple. Hard Edged looks to be lighter and more red.

Indoors, I can barely tell them apart. Both flash green, purple, and brown. The only difference I can see is that the demarcation between the colors is clearer with BTO. With Hard Edged, the colors seem to blend more.

In the sunlight, they look completely different to me. BTO looks like a blackened purple, while Hard Edged looks like a blackened reddish-brown.

Formula wise, BTO is the clear winner. I only needed two coats for opacity, while Hard Edged needed three coats.

Final verdict: Both polishes are beautiful, but they aren't dupes. That said, Hard Edged is a pretty good substitute for BTO.

Happy painting!

Rimmel Hard Edged

Rimmel Hard Edged is a deep purple that flashes brown and amber in the light. I wouldn't call it a duochrome though. It's very similar to OPI Black Tie Optional, but it's definitely not a dupe. I'll probably do a comparison soon. Hard Edged is beautiful on its own merits. This is two coats, no topcoat.

Shade:



Sunlight:







The formula was fine. I actually prefer the old Rimmel bottles; they looked a lot more chic. The new bottles are so plain and boring. I can't complain though, because awesomeness of the polishes hasn't changed.

Happy painting!

Misa Duochromes: Bojangles and Persian Carpet

My love affair for Misa continues in this post. First up is Persian Carpet, a jewel-toned purple shimmer that flashes amber. This is three coats, no topcoat.

Natural light:



You can see the amber here


Sunlight:


Reminds me of OPI Catherine the Grape here


The second shade is my favorite of the two; Bojangles. It's a warm pink shimmer that flashes orange. This is also three coats, no topcoat.

Sunlight:



You can see the orange here



Natural light:


In this picture in the shade, it reminds me of sherbet:



Formula wise, these were close to perfect. The first coats went on sheer, but the second coats were opaque. I added third coats but I really didn't need to. They both dried fast and I had no chipping issues.

I hope Misa releases more duochromes in the near future. Misa, are you reading this? Please make this happen...

Happy painting!

OPI Black Tie Optional

OPI Black Tie Optional was released with the 2001 World Collection, and it's one of OPI's best. BTO has a deep purple base, but it flashes brown and goldish-green. It was hard to photograph, but I think I caught every color. This is two coats, no topcoat.









I got this polish from a local nail salon, along with OPI NYPD Beet and China Glaze Grape Crush (those swatches are forthcoming). I had to haggle with the young lady who worked there. She outright refused to sell them to me several times, but I wore her down (or maybe it was the $20 bill I pulled out). I almost hate to even use them because I'm scared I'll run out. Crazy, right?

Initially, the formula was super thick. There's no telling how long the bottles had been sitting on that shelf, so that wasn't surprising. I used thinner and gave it a good shake and it was fine. Actually, it was better than fine. It applied like butter and there was no chipping.

Overall, BTO is as close to perfect as a polish can get. I can see why it's so coveted.

Happy painting!