Revlon Whimsical

Revlon Whimsical was released earlier this year when Revlon revamped their core line. Many of the colors are rereleases, but Whimsical is new. It consists of light pink and light blue hexes, smaller silver hexes, and small blue microglitter in a light blue jelly base. It's quite sheer, so I've layered 2 coats over 2 coats of China Glaze Sea Spray. In the shade:

Totally not my usual kind of color, but I love it! In the sun:

The formula, I will admit, is not great. It's thick, and the big hex glitter tends to slip off the brush, so you have to wipe off the brush and dip it back in a few times until you get the amount of glitter you'd like. And placing the glitter is a bit difficult. Sometimes, when I'd try to move a piece into a spot where there's less glitter, the blue base would glob onto that spot and leave a few thick areas. It's not terrible though. Just not as good as Facets of Fuchsia was.

And we've got another Lippmann sort of-dupe on our hands! This is very similar to Lippmann's Glitter in the Air. There are also Korean versions of this from Tony Moly and Innisfree, called Milky Way and 84, respectively. I'm sure they have their subtle differences, but they're quite similar, for all intents and purposes.

A few months ago, I tried wearing Whimsical on its own, but found that it was more sheer than I had expected, so I layered 3 coats of it over 2 coats of Essie Fill the Gap. This was the result:

You can still see my nail lines pretty clearly...And to be honest I don't like how this looks. It's too stark for my tastes, so I'll definitely stick to layering.

What do you think of all these dupes, considering Glitter in the Air came out first? Safe to say Ms. Lippmann isn't too happy....not that I blame her! I'm just a bit surprised to see her publicly acknowledging and reacting to it.

What about these types of milky glitters? Seems like some love 'em, and some think they look downright gross. Tell me how you really feel!

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!!

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia was released as part of the Expressionists Collection in Fall 2011. The collection also consisted of a blue glitter (Blue Mosaic), a greige creme (Smoky Canvas), and a silver glitter in a pink base (Starry Pink). I believe most of these colors have been revamped (read: renamed) for Revlon's new line, but they should still be available. Facets of Fuchsia now goes by the name Scandalous. Here, I've layered 2 coats over 1 coat of Wet n Wild Black Creme.

As you can see, Facets of Fuchsia consists of tiny purple hex glitter and larger purple hex glitter in a sheer black base. I think it could reach opacity on its own in 3 or 4 coats, but the end result would also be quite lumpy that way, so I chose to layer it. This way, I only need one coat of my regular top coat (Revlon's Quick Dry), and it's almost completely smooth. There is a little bit of texture, but it doesn't bug me, so I left it that way. I did have to place the glitter a bit, but nothing to complain about. In direct sun:

I've told you before of my love for black, so it shouldn't be surprising that I like this as much as I do. Bonus: it's a sort of-dupe for Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance! I think the glitter in Facets of Fuchsia is more dense, and Bad Romance has a more opaque black base with more purple glitter (as opposed to the fuchsia leanings of the Revlon), so I do prefer this one. Plus...$4 versus $18.....gotta love cheaper approximations! Revlon seems to be pretty good at that. 

Did you pick up any of the Revlon Expressionist colors? Thoughts? Feelings?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and enjoy the rest of your week!

Reswatch: Milani Dot Com

About a year and a half ago, Milani Dot Com was one of my all-time favorite colors. I'd still consider it part of my Top 20, but I haven't reached for it in a looooong time, so I figured I'd pull it out again. Dot Com was released in Spring 2010 with the Liquid Metal Collection, which was comprised of shimmers & foils with Internet-themed names. Aside from Dot Com, the collection consisted of a pearly white metallic, a light gold foil (along the lines of Orly Luxe, but lighter and cooler-toned), and a rose gold foil, but I don't really think that those colors are particularly interesting. Dot Com, however, is another story. 3 coats, with top coat.

It consists of superfine warm purple shimmer and larger copper flecks of shimmer in a dusty, cool-toned purple base. SO COOL. I'm not sure why a few of my nails look a bit bumpy, but rest assured the surface is completely smooth. No bubbles or clumps or anything.

I love how prominent the shimmer is! Ok, now that I'm done gushing about the color, let's talk formula, because this is.......not good. Dot Com takes 3 coats for opacity, which isn't bad, but it also takes a very long time to dry. In order to avoid bubbles, I decided to let each coat dry completely before adding the next. As you can imagine, that took quite a while. Oh, and guess what! It chipped five hours later, before it even finished drying! NOT HAPPY. I don't remember having this issue last time I wore it, so it might be because of the base and top coats that I used, which were Essie Fill the Gap & Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat. It's so unique though....and like I already said, it's so pretty :( I mean, look at this!

If it wasn't such an awesome color, I'd be a lot more irritated, but I do have a weakness for a nice purple shimmer. .

Have you ever experienced such a troublesome formula? How did you deal with it?

Oh, and HAPPY FRIDAY! I'm moving back into my dorm tomorrow, so I'll probably be AWOL for a few days while I get settled in. Thanks for looking & commenting, and have a great weekend!!

Purple & Gold Half-Moons

I wound up wearing Orly Luxe for a few days, and thought I'd try a half-moon mani. I figured, eh, I was planning to take it off anyway, so if I royally screw this up, no big deal. It wound up being...not as bad as I expected! I used China Glaze VIII for the tips.

VIII is a super opaque eggplant creme. It's nearly opaque in one coat, but the formula makes it tricky. It's globby and runny and a tad bit streaky, so I definitely needed that second coat to even things out. It was released in Fall 2007 with the X collection (intended to celebrate China Glaze's tenth anniversary, if memory serves).

I do love purple and gold together, but my half-moons could use some work. I used reinforcement labels, but I had some difficulty getting them to stick to my nails properly. In certain spots, VIII leaked under the labels, and in other areas, it smeared as I tried to remove the labels. Well, practice makes perfect right?

Have you ever attempted a half-moon manicure? Or any other sort of nail art? How'd that go down?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Orly Luxe

Orly Luxe, like Shine, was released as part of the Foil FX collection. There is a third color in the collection, a rose gold foil called Rage, but I don't like rose gold at all, so I didn't bother with that one. This is 2 coats of Luxe, no top coat, in the shade.

I prefer Luxe to Shine because of the opacity. It does need 2 coats for full opacity, but if I'm in a rush I can get away with one coat. Here it is in the sunlight:

It's a nice gold; not too cool and not too warm, so it should be flattering to many different skin tones.

I don't feel that this polish is terribly unique, but can't really think of any dupes off the top of my head either. I think Revlon Gold Coin is similar, but not quite the same.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

Orly Shine

Orly Shine was released as part of the Foil FX collection for Spring 2010. It's a plain and simple silver foil, but it's a good one. 2 coats, no top coat.

Apparently the Foil FX polishes were supposed to emulate the look of Minx, and Orly failed miserably in that respect, but Shine is quite pretty. And unlike China Glaze Swing Baby, Shine is completely opaque at 2 coats!

I'm pretty sure there are tons of dupes for this one out there. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City, Zoya Trixie are among them.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and to those of you celebrating Eid today, Eid Mubarak!!

China Glaze Swing Baby

China Glaze Swing Baby was released as part of the Vintage Vixen collection for Fall 2010. I love it in the bottle, because it looks like a great sparkly neutral, but it's disappointingly sheer. This is 3 coats.

If you'll notice, on my ring and pinky fingernails, you can still see a big of my nail through the polish, and this isn't even in direct light. No complaints about formula or drying time.

I still think it's pretty, but my nails really should not be visible after three coats. It's a plain foil, it's not as though there's a balance to be struck between base color & shimmer...

As far as dupes go, I can't really think of any off the top of my head. I think it's fairly unique.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and happy Friday!!

Essie Pink a Boo

Essie Pink a Boo was released with this year's Resort collection. To be honest, I wasn't that impressed by the collection. The shimmery magenta one, Sure Shot, is pretty, but not unique and not my style. The lavender one, She's Picture Perfect, has disappearing shimmer, and is light enough that it would look chalky on me. No More Film, the indigo one, is pretty, but since I already have Zoya Pinta, I passed on that.

Oddly enough, I am really liking the sheer, sparkly light pink one. What the heck? It's so sheer that I can't wear it unless my nails are nubs, and even then it needs 4 coats over Essie Fill the Gap. When I posted this on MUA, I got several messages asking how I was able to get it opaque. That's how sheer it is. And yet....I like it? In the shade:

Light, cool-toned pinks generally look terrible on me, but I think the lack of opacity gives it the softness that it needs. That way, it's not as harsh as I was expecting. I do really like the shimmer. It's so prominent!

At an angle, the blue does shift to a bright pink, but I was unable to capture that with my camera. Maybe one day I'll learn to photograph color shifts, LOL.

I didn't have any issues with the formula, but I have heard that light colors tend to streak, so I preemptively let each coat dry completely before adding the next, and application was therefore not difficult at all.

I think Pink a Boo is fairly unique. The closest color I can think of off the top of my head is Chanel Frisson, but that's a great deal more expensive, and also quite different. Frisson has a warmer base color, with golden shimmer. So....not really close, but a similar concept.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and happy Friday!!

Orly Galaxy Girl

Orly Galaxy Girl is from the Fall 2010 Cosmic FX collection. It consists of blue-magenta shifting glass-flecks in a murky purple base. It kind of reminds me of a blackened bruise, but in an awesome way. This is what it looks like most of the time:

As you can see, those blue flecks are super prominent, but in order for that to work, the base has to be pretty sheer. I used 3 coats, plus top coat. The texture of these flecks is so cool! In indirect light:

That pink shift in the bottle does show up on the nail at an angle, but like the purple shift in Lunar Eclipse, I was on the verge of flipping tables trying to capture it. I do have this super awkward shot that I took a while back though. That shimmerrrrr.

Here's a closer look:

I believe there are several dupes for Galaxy Girl. There's Models Own Purple Blue, MAC Formidable!, and Claire's also had a version of this a while back, called Evil Queen, though that one's a bit different. Personally, I prefer Orly's brush and formula, but alternatives are always nice!

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Revlon Chic + Lynnderella Connect the Dots

So, I've probably told you many many times of my love for Chic and Connect the Dots, but for some reason it didn't occur to me to wear them together until now. WHY DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG? I'VE HAD BOTH THESE COLORS FOR MONTHS.

This is two coats of Chic. I used one sort-of coat of Connect the Dots over top of it, but I kinda dabbed it on rather than applying a "proper" coat.

It might be because I haven't pulled out Connect the Dots in a while, but I did have a bit of trouble placing the glitter, and I had to fish for the big square pieces. I was able to get one of those giant hexes though, so I am pleased with that! They usually don't lay flat, but if you give it 3 or 4 minutes to set, and then gently press it down with a fingertip or something, it stays, and doesn't snag on everything.

Of course, I had to try wearing this matte. Under artificial light:

So cool. And almost entirely smooth! No Gelous required.

As I've mentioned before, Chic is part of Revlon's core lineup, so that shouldn't be hard to find at all. Connect the Dots (and all other Lynns, for that matter) is another story. I believe they're currently being sold on Ebay for $20 each.

There are a TON of indie alternatives to Connect the Dots if you'd rather not buy the Lynnderella (or if you'd just rather not pay $20 for a polish that was once sold for $12)......... Chalkboard Nails put together a fantastic comparison.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

Zoya Neeka

Whoops, has it really been a week since I last posted (or even checked Blogger)? I could've sworn it was two days ago.......

Anyway, Zoya Neeka is from the Mirrors half of Zoya's Smoke & Mirrors collection from last fall. Given the Zoya Smoke collection and some of their offerings for this fall, I feel like those murky cremes, while gorgeous, have been done to death. Not the case with this type of finish!! Neeka is just awesome, and unlike a lot of the polishes I've posted lately, IT'S ACTUALLY OPAQUE AND EVEN IN TWO COATS. CAPS LOCK IS TOTALLY NECESSARY FOR THIS. 2 coats, with top coat, in the shade:

It photographs a little cooler than it is, but don't let the bottle fool you. Neeka does dry fairly dark. In the sun:

I love the mix of ultra-fine purple shimmer and the flecks of gold. So. Freaking. Cool.

I believe Zoya Yara has a similar finish, but I'm a little hesitant to try olive greens. There are definitely no dupes or near-dupes to Neeka, at least not that I can think of. Zoya really needs to put out more colors with this finish, because it is probably my all-time favorite finish. It's not often that I buy & wear a color, pull it out a year later, and love it just as much as I did then.