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!

Essie: Footloose

I don't know why this was in my untrieds. Footloose is a berry colored creme from the Fall 2005 collection (the one with the feet theme). Two coats, no topcoat:






The color is a bit deeper in real life. There isn't much to say about this polish other than that the formula was perfect. If your application skills are on point, it's definitely a one coater. It went on like butter and it needs no topcoat at all, as you can see.

I don't have many Essies in my stash and I really need to rectify that. I've never had any issues with the brand and I think they make some really lovely shades. Footloose is the perfect spring/summer color.

How do you feel about Essie?

Happy painting!

NYX Girls: Cheeky Chic and haul pic

Today I have NYX Girls Cheeky Chic. Cheeky Chic has a pale pink base with loads of glass-flecky shimmer. It's on the sheer side, so I put two coats of it over one coat of Color Club Get a Clue. No topcoat:






Cheeky Chic is so pretty and dainty. The formula is fine, but it's definitely better layered over an opaque color.

This isn't my usual style but it's a nice quick understated mani that still has some sparkle and whimsy.

P.S. Part of my haul the other day was 5 Kleancolor holos. Here's the entire collection:

L to R: Holo Orange, Holo Green, Holo Blue, Holo Yello, Holo Pink, Holo Chrome (could the names be any less original?)

I'll be swatching the rest of these in the next few days if we get some sun.

Happy painting!

Essence: Enchanted Fairy

Happy Easter/Resurrection Day for those who celebrate!

Today I have Enchanted Fairy, which is a very pale pink with subtle shimmer. It's such a delicate and feminine shade. Two coats, no topcoat:





Oooh, shimmer...


The formula on this was just fine, and it did dry quickly like the label advertised.

I think I have an irrational love for Essence. The bottles are pretty much the size of a grape, but they're only $.99 and the quality is comparable to my other favorite brands like China Glaze and Color Club. The color choices are great and they wear well on me. What's not to love?

It's too bad my nearest Ulta is so far away, otherwise I'd be doing some serious damage right now.

Happy painting!

Wet 'N Wild: How I Met Your Magenta

Today I have an adorable pink for you; Wet 'N Wild How I Met Your Magenta. It's a hot pink creme with gorgeous pink shimmer. This shade isn't terribly unique, but I'm a sucker for anything pink and anything with gold shimmer. Three coats, no topcoat:




Sunlight:






The formula on this shade was fine as far as application goes, but it's oddly sheer. You can see VNL in my pics. The reason I say oddly is because it doesn't seem sheer when you're applying it...it's pigmented, but still needs to be built up. It's not a jelly, but it has jelly-like tendencies. Also, it dries to an almost satiny finish.

At any rate, it's a fun, summery color for a great price.

Happy painting!

Color Club Starry Temptress: Swatches and Review

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a glitter kind of girl. I only have three glitter topcoats, and I've only used one of them twice. With that said, I love the Starry Temptress collection. I think it's the combination of neon and glitter, and the warm spring weather that are making me feel this way. I have a feeling people are either going to love or hate this collection. I don't foresee there being a middle ground on this one.

Ok, on to the swatches. All swatches have two coats, Revlon Colorstay topcoat on top with shade pics first, then sunlight.

First up is Space Case. This is a bubblegum pink with holographic glitter. Sadly, the holo doesn't really show up on the nail, so it mostly looks like silver glitter. That suits me just fine, and this one is actually my favorite of the collection. The formula was ok on this one; the consistency was good. Space Case is the only one that didn't dry matte. It may be because this is the only one that isn't a true neon.




Next is Ultra-Astral, a hot pink neon with holo glitter. As with Space Case, the holo doesn't really translate. The formula on this one was a tad bit thick.




Next is Wink, Wink, Twinkle. This is a mid-toned neon purple with holo glitter. To save myself some time, I'll just say that the holo in each of these is lazy and likes to lie around in the bottle rather than coming out to play. This one gave me the most trouble when it came to accurately capturing the color. Just know that it's much more vivid in real life. Also of note: the formula on this one was the best for me. It was the thinnest of the six.




Next is You've Got Soul-ar. Neon orange with holo glitter.




Glitter Envy. Neon green with holo glitter. Here is where things start to go south. I'm not sure why, but the glitter in this and Otherworldly looks white, rather than silver. The formula on this one was thick.





Finally, Otherworldly. Neon blue with holo glitter. Formula was a tad thick.




Removal was typical for glitters. A pain in the butt. Please excuse the wayward glitter specs in my swatches, but those things hung on for dear life.

I didn't use the glitter topcoat because I'm not ready for all that just yet lol. Each of these dries to a bumpy finish, but a good clear topcoat smooths them out just fine.

Verdict: I've been under a lot of stress lately, and swatching these made me happy. I love all but the last two, but I still love the collection as a whole and I appreciate that Color Club takes the risks that it does.

You know what else I love? That I can buy an entire collection for $8 at Ross. :)

So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Not sure yet?

Happy painting!

Color Club: Yachty, Yachty, Yadda. And crack.

It really is addictive. I'm sure everyone is just sick to death of Crackle, but I can't stop. I saw this mani on Kendal's blog and I just had to replicate it. Mine didn't come out as good as hers, but I love the color combination anyhow.

Yachty, Yachty, Yadda was released with the Yacht Club collection a few years ago. Most of the polishes in the collection were winners for me, but this is my favorite. YYY is a bubblegum pink cream. This is two coats, no topcoat:




I then added ChG Broken Hearted (Revlon topcoat on top):



The result was sickeningly sweet looking. I think I should have used a lighter base color. At any rate, I still love the mani, although it's like pink on crack. Literally, I suppose lol.

Formula wise, YYY is pretty great. I have a lot of pink cremes, and this is one of the least streaky and chalky. It evens out nicely on the second coat. It also wears well. Can't beat that for the price.

Happy painting!

OPI: DS Extravagance

Imagine my surprise when I walked into Ulta during my trip a few weeks back and saw this and several other DS polishes on the shelf. I was really close to buying them all, but at $12.50 a pop, I showed remarkable restraint and only bought one. This has been a lemming of mine for a long time, so I couldn't be happier. Still, I think about the others and wonder what might have been...

Oh well. Love the one you're with, right? :-) You've all seen this before. Unfortunately, I failed to capture the awesomeness of the holo, but trust me, it's amazing in real life. Two coats, no topcoat.





The formula was classic OPI; I had no problems whatsoever. I was so excited about this one that I got back to my hotel room, slapped two coats on top of whatever I was wearing, and proceeded to wear it for the next three days. I couldn't stop staring at my hands.

So, lemming satisfied. It feels pretty darn good.

Happy painting!

Revlon Top Speed: Jaded, and Crackle

Today I have Revlon Top Speed Jaded, which is not to be confused with Revlon Jaded, an old discontinued shade. This version of Jaded is pale mint green with very, very subtle shimmer. I don't even think my camera picked it up. Two coats, no topcoat:




The formula was streaky, but it evened out surprisingly well on the second coat. I really expected the worst with this one, but was pleasantly surprised.

Then I added China Glaze Broken Hearted*, a hot pink creme from the Crackles collection. One coat of Broken Hearted on top of Jaded, no topcoat:






I absolutely love pink and green together. LOVE. I really think I should have been an AKA. Anyway, Broken Hearted is gorgeous. I applied one thick coat and got the results above, but I plan to play around with different methods and see what I can come up with.


Happy painting!


*This product was sent to me for review.

For Girls Only

In the last few years, pink has become a more neutral color. When I was younger, only girls wore pink. No exceptions. Then around the time of high school (the 90's), boys started to wear polo shirts with pink in them somewhere. In the last ten years, men have just gone all out with it. Pink shirts, pink ties, and pink cars (well, maybe just Cam'ron, the rapper).

I think it's great. I don't think any gender should be restricted when it comes to color. That said, I can't help but feel all pretty and girly when I wear pink on my nails. It just does something to me. China Glaze Strawberry Fields and Finger Paints I'm a Survivor are two colors that get me every time.

You've seen Strawberry Fields (Summer Days collection). Vivid pink with gold glass-flecked shimmer. It's one of ChG's best. I'm a Survivor was part of the 2010 Breast Cancer Awareness collection. The name always makes me think of the Destiny's Child song, which means it gets stuck in my head all day. But that's ok, because the color makes up for it. I'm a Survivor is bright pink with silver shimmer. Two coats, no topcoat in both pictures.


Strawberry Fields. I posted pics of this one before, but they were all washed out and, well, awful. These pics are much more true to how the shade looks on me.






I'm a Survivor. This one reminds me of rock candy.






The formula was good on both.

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!