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!

Ruby Kisses: Neon Green

When I saw this, I knew I had to have it. I generally only go for blackened shimmery greens, and the occasional holiday green glitter or dusty green or pastel creme. This is my first bright green, and it's about as conspicuous as you can get.

Neon Green is a vivid grass green jelly. This is three coats with Revlon Colorstay topcoat. It dried matte like all neons, so topcoat was a must.




The formula was fine for a cheapy brand...I didn't have any major issues. It was thin and watery, but it dried quickly. I did have to go back and wrap my tips because it shrank a little.

Overall, I love the shade and I can't wait to wear it as a full mani.

By the way, I just hit 50 followers! You know what that means...it's giveaway time! Stay tuned for details...

Happy painting!

NYX Girls Deep Space

This polish is crazy. I picked this up the other day at a beauty supply. This brand sells for $.99. Deep Space is a dark brown jelly packed with brown, blue, and gold flaky glitter. It doesn't look like much indoors, but in direct light, it's amazing. This is three coats, no topcoat.









The formula was ok to work with; it's pretty sheer and the three coats were definitely necessary. Overall, I'm impressed, especially for a buck. This is my first time using this brand and I like.

Happy painting!

ETA: Someone tried to comment on this post when I was uploading a comment widget. Sorry about that! I didn't get to read what you wrote. :-(

Everything should be straightened out now!

More jelly goodness...Carolyn New York: Brooklyn

Brooklyn is a juicy red jelly. I absolutely love this because it's a wearable red for me. I also love it because it's highly pigmented. This is three coats, but I could have gotten away with two. No topcoat.

Shade:


The formula was near perfect. The only drawback to this polish is that by the third day, it's about three shades darker than it was on the first day. I have no idea why this happens, but it's weird.

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!

China Glaze Zombie Zest and Confetti My Favorite Martian

Today I have two gorgeous, glittery greens. Like my alliteration? :-) Anyway, first up is Confetti My Favorite Martian. This one has a green jelly base with tons of mossy green, grass green, and yellow shimmer.

Three coats, no topcoat.

Natural light:



Sunlight:


As you can see, it leans more yellow in the sunlight.

I got China Glaze Zombie Zest at Sally the other night; they had all of their holiday polishes on clearance for $1.99. Zombie Zest was part of the 2010 Awakening collection for Halloween. This one is so awesome. The base is a swamp green jelly, with green, gold, and blue microglitter. In the bottle, it almost looks like it could be a duochrome, but it doesn't translate on the nail. The best part? The foil finish. Behold:

Three coats, no topcoat.

Natural light:




Sunlight:


Indoors:




I know they were going for Halloween and zombie-like, but this polish actually reminds me of pesto. I happen to love pesto, so that's alright with me.

Formula wise, both polishes were just fine. Since they're jellies, they need three coats for opacity, but both were easy to apply and the consistency was good enough that the three coats weren't too thick.

Happy Painting!

Misa Dirty Sexy Money and China Glaze Atlantis

I stopped by Sally Beauty Supply last night to get the new Fingerpaints, but they didn't have them in yet. I looked around a bit and saw that they had China Glaze Atlantis in its own display, which is odd since Atlantis was released in 2009 with several other specialty glitters. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining lol. I picked up Atlantis and a few $1.99 holiday shades they had on clearance.

I've had Misa Dirty Sexy Money for awhile. It was released with the 2009 Living in the Fast Lane collection. I'm sure you've seen it a million times, but I just did my first mani with it. Dirty Sexy Money is a dusty turquoise creme. It's very distinct.

Two coats, no topcoat.

Natural light:


Sunlight:



My pictures didn't adequately capture the dustiness of this polish. It's gorgeous. After I got done staring at it, I decided to layer Atlantis over it. Atlantis is a turquoise jelly with multicolored glitter.

Two coats over Dirty Sexy Money, no topcoat.

Natural light:


Sunlight (blurry so you can see the colors):



As you can see, Atlantis is insane. In a good way.

Formula wise, Dirty Sexy Money was perfect. Atlantis is a jelly, so it's not something I'd wear alone, and it's pretty thick. The glitter tends to group together, so I had to spread it a bit, but it's so amazing that I can forgive that.

By the way, I now have nubbins thanks to that broken ring fingernail the other day.

Happy painting!

Confetti Happy Birthday

I saw a new polish display at CVS the other day: Confetti Long Wearing Nail Color. They cost $1.99 and there were lots of really pretty colors. I had no idea what they would be like, formula-wise, so I only bought one. Happy Birthday is a dark purple jelly with lavender and silver micro-glitter.

Three coats, no topcoat.






The formula wasn't too bad for cheapie polish. I definitely needed three coats for evenness, and even then, I could still see some sparse light areas. It dried pretty quickly to a nice, glossy finish.

I plan to go back and buy more. When I do, I'll post some swatches.

Happy painting!