Comparison: OPI DS Extravagance vs. Ulta Material Girl

Today I have two burgundy polishes with rainbow holographic glitter. They look very close in the bottle and close on the nail, but there are a couple of differences.




This is two coats of Extravagance on the pointer and ring fingers, and two coats of Material Girl on the middle and pinky fingers. No topcoat on either:



Extravagance is a little more rich and vivid.



Also notice how glossy Extravagance is compared to Material Girl, which is dull and gritty to the touch. The scattered holo is pretty much the same, but Material Girl doesn't have that faint orange flash to it like Extravagance does(my camera never picks up the orange, but it's definitely there).





Formula wise, Extravagance is superior. Both go on smoothly, but Extravagance dries to a gloss. Material Girl definitely needs a topcoat for shine and a smooth finish.

If I had to pick one, it would be Extravagance, but Material Girl is a fine substitute. They aren't dupes, but they're close enough that you don't need both.

ETA: Material Girl removes like a glitter polish. In other words, you might want to use the foil method. Extravagance removes like any other non-glitter polish.

Happy painting!

Comparison: Pure Ice Purple Reign vs. OPI Catherine the Grape

Today I'm comparing two smoky purples. I originally thought these two shades were close, but after reviewing them side-by-side, it's clear that they are not.



This is two coats of Catherine the Grape on the pointer and ring fingers, and three coats of Purple Reign on the middle and pinky fingers (no topcoat on either):



As you can see, Purple Reign has a cool base while Catherine the Grape is more warm and red-based. The gold shimmer is also different; PR has large shimmer particles while CtG has ribbons of gold microshimmer.





Formula wise, CtG wins. It was perfectly opaque in two coats, while PR was still a little patchy after the second coat. Both were easy to apply and had good consistency.

Final Verdict: I originally called PR the more outgoing sister of CTG, but now I'm going to change that and call PR a second cousin LOL. They aren't even close to being dupes and if you love purple, you probably need both.

I'm going to be doing comparisons all week.

Happy painting!

Pure Ice: Purple Reign

Hello strangers! I have to apologize for my disappearing act. I've had a lot going on these past few weeks...some good, a lot bad. Such is life.

Today I have Pure Ice Purple Reign. I had never been able to find this at any of the Walmarts near me so I had given up on getting it. As luck would have it, on our way back from Panama City, we made a pit stop in Dothan, Alabama and their Super Walmart had it! I got this, Pure Ice Heartbreaker, and a coral one I can't remember the name of right now.

Purple Reign is a smoky purple with gold shimmer. It's like OPI Catherine the Grape's more outgoing sister. I'll do a comparison one day. This is three coats, no topcoat:





Ooh, shimmer!


The formula was good and I probably could have done two coats, but as always, my application sucked so I had some patchiness. The third coat evened it all out. I love the shimmer in this and it is absolutely visible on the nail.

Varnish Vixen, if you're reading, I still owe you some mail and I'm so sorry it has taken me so long but I will make it up to you!

Happy painting!

Rimmel: Violet Metal and Marine Blue

CVS has a ton of their makeup on clearance. Check out Nouveau Cheap for a list of products. I printed the list and headed to CVS a couple of days ago to get a few things, including four new Rimmel polishes, which were 75% off. I have two to show you today.

Violet Metal is a violet polish with gorgeous blue shimmer. This one kind of snuck up on me. It looked pretty in the bottle, but it's absolutely stunning on the nail. This is three coats, no topcoat:



Closer:


Bottle:


The formula on this one was ok. It was a little patchy, which is why I did three coats, but I probably could have gotten away with two if I'd applied more carefully. This is completely unique to my stash and I'm so glad I picked it up. The pictures really don't do it justice.

Next is Marine Blue. This one is just ok looking. I feel like I've seen this shade a million times. It has a turquoise base with light blue shimmer. Two coats, no topcoat:





The formula on this one was better than Violet Metal, but as I said, it's not at all unique. Still a good buy for the money if you don't have anything like this.

I'll have the other two shades tomorrow.

Happy painting!

Quick NOTD: Kleancolor Purple Crackle

Just a quick NOTD post tonight because I have a ton of stuff to do. This is Kleancolor Purple Crackle over NYX Girls Fierce Purple.




Happy painting!

Holo-y goodness

Today I have China Glaze LOL and DV8 from the OMG Collection. I was just starting my nail polish obsession when these came out so I didn't know how wonderful these polishes really were. I only ordered these two shades from the collection, and now I'm wishing I had gotten all of them. Thankfully, I've seen them at dusties in my neighborhood, so I should be able to get them all at some point.

LOL is purple with rainbow linear holo. DV8 is teal with rainbow linear holo. Both are two coats, no topcoat:

LOL (my favorite from the collection)







DV8






The formula on both was buttery smooth. I've heard that topcoat kills the holo, but I can't say for sure because I haven't done a comparison. These don't need a topcoat because they are awesome without shine.

Do you own the OMG collection? What are your favorites?

Happy painting!

Dusty Duds

I've been meaning to do this post for awhile but I got sidetracked. I'm a big fan of dustying (or dusty hunting) for old polishes. I've scored some great ones (OPI Black Tie Optional, China Glaze Grape Crush, etc.), and some duds, which I'll show you today.

When I go dustying, I generally have an idea of what I'm looking for, but I always keep my eye out for other shades. For me, it's not about getting a discontinued polish just to have it; I only buy what I like and would actually wear. I've come across countless old shades but I'm very picky so most of them get left on the shelf. If I do like the shade and I know it's discontinued, I will buy it right then because I know I may never see it again.

The last time I went dustying, I found two old China Glaze polishes...That Look and Crocodile Lounge. That Look is a purple shimmer with what looked to me to be scattered holo. Crocodile Lounge looked to be dupe-y to OPI Creme De Menthe, which is on my wishlist. Unfortunately, both ended up being duds.

First up is That Look...this is two coats, no topcoat:



As you can see, not only is it not holo, it's frosty and brushstroke-y. Gross.


Next up is Crocodile Lounge, which has a mint green base with yellow shimmer. Two coats, no topcoat:



Again, not what I expected. This one is also on the frosty and brushstroke-y side. Blech.

These were super thick when I got them home and opened them, so I added several drops of thinner. I can't speak to the quality of the original formulas, but even after thinning, the formulas were still very hard to work with. I'm willing to add more thinner and revisit these in the future, but the day I swatched them I was so disappointed that I threw them in a box and haven't looked at them since.

This is par for the course with dustying; you win some, you lose some. It's also possible that you may think you have a dud, then one day, you realize you have a treasure (i.e. my experience with ChG Nightfall). The bottom line is that the thrill is in the hunt, and you can't let one or two duds discourage you from finding great old shades.

Happy painting!

Kleancolor: Holo Chrome

More name weirdness. Holo Chrome isn't chrome at all; the base is purple . But that's neither here nor there. Holo Chrome is hotness. It's loaded with rainbow holo glitter, and who doesn't love that?

Two coats, no topcoat:



Closeup:


Sunlight:



The formula was fine...went on smoothly, dried quickly. Surprisingly, the glitter isn't gritty or bumpy, so unless you need shine, a topcoat isn't needed. One caveat: everything you've heard is true. Kleancolors smell terrible. Even after they're dry, they smell terrible. But you know what they say...polish whores can't be choosers. Or something.

Has anyone gotten their hands on the new Kleancolors yet? My Lucid Bubble has some swatches up. I plan to order soon.

Happy painting!

NYX Girls: Complex Purple

Complex purple. That's an interesting name choice. Presumptuous, maybe. I don't think I'd call this shade complex at all. It's actually pretty simple...and gorgeous. The base is medium purple, but it has this really pretty pale blue shimmer. You can barely see it in the bottle, but it comes alive on the nail. I'm used to the opposite happening.

This is two coats, no topcoat:



You can see the blue tint of the shimmer here if you enlarge (sorry about those white spots. I have no clue where they came from!):



Formula wise, I was pretty impressed. The polish went on smoothly and was perfectly opaque in two coats. I was also impressed by the fact that the shimmer is still visible in normal light. It's not prominent, but it doesn't disappear light most subtle shimmers.

I continue to be impressed by NYX Girls. I found a new beauty supply store from which to buy these, and I will be going back for many, many more in the near future. At $1.49 a pop, how could I not?

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!

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!

China Glaze Fault Line...yes, more crack

I took my Wet n Wild mani from yesterday and sprinkled some crack on it [/Dave Chappelle]. I used China Glaze Fault Line* on top, which is the only shimmer in the Crackle collection. It's jewel-tone purple and I think it just might be my favorite. One coat of Fault line over three coats of Wet n Wild Toss Me a LIFESAVERS, with Revlon topcoat on top:

Sunlight:



Shade:



There are several bloggers with great skills when it comes to nail art, and I really admire those ladies. I, however, am not one of them and I think Crackle is the closest I'll get to any kind of decoration. Thankfully, these polishes are foolproof once you get the hang of them. Fault Line is so pretty, and I think the shimmer sets it above the other shades in the collection. The formula on this was fine; not sticky and not too thick.

Happy painting!

*This product was sent to me for review.

Purple mini-spam

I love purple and I'm pretty sure that's the most abundant color in my stash. Today I have three of them to show you.

NYX Girls Fierce Purple. The name is entirely appropriate because this dusty purple creme is fierce, chic, and gorgeous. I'd love to see this compared to Parlez-Vous OPI?, but sadly, I don't have that one. My pic doesn't do it justice, but here it is anyway. I color corrected to get to the right shade so this is accurate. Two coats, no topcoat:



Next is Kleancolor Neon Purple. This one is a midtoned purple with silver shimmer, and it's pretty unique. I don't have anything like it and I don't think I've seen anything like it. It's so pretty, but I don't think I'd describe it as a neon. Two coats, no topcoat:





Finally, OPI Can You Dig It? from the Psychedelic Summer collection. This one is a warm purple creme. Two coats, no topcoat:



Formula-wise, OPI was typical in that it applied smoothly and evenly with great pigmentation. No surprises there.

I was rather suprised at the formulas on the other two. Both Neon Purple and Fierce Purple applied well and were nicely pigmented. I'm falling more and more in love with cheapies as the days go by.

Happy painting!