Verity Midnight Green + Comparison

Verity Midnight Green is a squishy, super glossy dark green jelly. It's opaque in 4 coats, and I had no issues with bubbling. In indirect light:

So squishy!! The formula was excellent too. It was thin, but workable, and didn't get all up in my cuticles or anything. In the sun:

LOVE. Now, as you may have realized, I've posted quite a few greens. Perhaps you're wondering how they compare? Even if you weren't, I went ahead and compared them anyway. Out of my greens, I found that the closest (in the bottle) are Verity Aqua Blue, Illamasqua Rampage, and NYC Flat Iron Green. Bottle shots:

Aqua Blue is pretty clearly different from the others, so I decided to leave it out when doing my comparison swatches. And you can see that my bottle of Rampage has been pretty well loved, haha. In the shade, Rampage, Midnight Green, and Flat Iron Green look pretty similar. Rampage is a bit lighter, but not by much. Midnight Green and Flat Iron Green look pretty much identical.

In a brighter lighting situation, the differences become more apparent (or maybe it's just my green addiction that becomes more apparent.....).

Rampage is definitely lighter and brighter now, but Flat Iron Green and Midnight Green still look the same. The sun was not cooperating when I took the comparison photos, and my artificial light source wasn't cutting it, but there are indeed minute differences between Midnight Green and Flat Iron Green. I mentioned this when I posted Flat Iron Green, but that one's a murkier, swampier green. Midnight Green is a pure forest green. 

I'm probably going to wind up purging Flat Iron Green, because it's not really that good, and Rampage & Midnight Green are so much better. I'm glad I've got Midnight Green though, because it's so much cheaper than Rampage! $1 versus $14....Needless to say, I no longer want NARS Zulu!

Thoughts? Feelings? Do you even like dark greens? Are there any colors that you automatically gravitate towards even though you know you've already got similar ones?

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

Essence Colour & Go Swatches

Recently, Essence discontinued and rereleased their Colour & Go line with a bunch of new colors. A while back, I tried one of the old ones, What Do U Think? and frankly, I thought it was pretty terrible. But for $1.99, I decided to try out 4 of the new ones. I picked up Date in the Moonlight, Grey-t to Be Here, Oh My Glitter!, and Walk on the Wild Side, which I will show you in that order. They are all shown at 3 coats, with top coat.

First up, Date in the Moonlight. It was close to opaque in 2 coats, but did need a third to be completely even. In the shade:

It's a gorgeous, smoky, inky blue with brighter blue flecks of shimmer. The flecks are subtle, but pretty. But I have to say, I do wish the shimmer was more prominent. For a 3-coater, I definitely think they could have balanced the base color and shimmer a bit better. Luckily, I also really like the base color, so it's not really a big deal. In the sun:

The formula left a bit to be desired, as it was thin and watery and liked to pool in my cuticles, but unlike most dark blues, it did not stain upon contact, so cleanup was not torturous.

Grey-t to Be Here is a light grey with red/pink flecks of shimmer. This was also watery, and definitely needed all 3 coats. In the shade:

Love that contrasting shimmer!! No complaints about it being overly subtle. And I love pale, cool greys on me, so this one is awesome. In the sun:

Oh My Glitter! is an absolute stunner. It's a little warmer in person than it photographs, but it's awesome either way. A vivid, light purple base that's packed with shimmer. In the shade:

Same formula as Grey-t to Be Here; thin, watery, definitely needs all 3 coats. The different colors of shimmer were hard to pick up, but you can see the pink, and maybe a tiny bit of the blue here:

Last up, Walk on the Wild Side. This one is my favorite. In the shade:

As you can see, Walk on the Wild Side is a dark, dusty green with brighter green flecks of shimmer. LOVE. The shimmer is only one color, and it's not nearly as complex as Oh My Glitter!, but as I've told you, I have a bit of a weakness for greens. The formula was mostly consistent with the others, but this one was a bit more opaque. Still a 3-coater, but almost perfect in 2.

With the new line came a $1 price increase, but they also increased the bottle size. I don't think $1.99 for a relatively large mini is that big of a deal, but I do have a problem with the brush. That's an Essie brush on the left, for comparison purposes. ESSENCE, Y U DO DIS? And the wide stem means that you have to really wipe it off well to avoid random globs of polish.

As far as dupes go....I think these colors are pretty unique! Well done, Essence. These are awesome, despite that ridiculous paddle brush, and the watery formulas.

Thoughts? Feelings? Have you picked up any of the new Colour & Go polishes?

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

China Glaze Ingrid

China Glaze Ingrid was released with the Vintage Vixen collection in Fall 2010. I believe it has since been made core at Sally Beauty Supply, so it is still widely available.

Ingrid is a warm taupe with gold shimmer. 2 coats, with top coat, in the shade:

I'm not sure how I feel about this one against my skintone. It's a lovely color, but maybe the grey in it makes it look so muddy? It just kind of looks like dirt on me. :(

Luckily, the formula was good. No streaking, and it was solid in 2 coats. Under artificial light:

That shimmer though! You know by now I love a nice shimmer, and the gold stands out here and makes it unique from the 8000000 other taupes out there. I think it would probably look better on someone that's more cool-toned than me though.

Thoughts? Feelings? Are there any colors you love but just can't pull off?

Thanks for looking and commenting

LA Splash Crimson Tide

Crimson Tide. I'm so mature, but it definitely makes me think of menstruation. Either that, or those toxic red tide blooms that have been causing fish kills. Side note: have any of you read And the Waters Turned to Blood, by Rodney Barker? Dramatic title, but such a fascinating book. And it turns out my former boss was involved in the project that discovered Pfisteria piscicida!

Anyway, back to nail polish. Crimson Tide consists of fine, burnt coppery orange hex glitters suspended in a vampy, bloody red base. I feel like this one's quite good for Halloween, but it's also a lovely color for any time of year. Because of the glitter, it is a bit gritty, but one coat of regular top coat (Revlon Quick Dry in this case) smoothed it out just fine, and it's opaque in 3 coats. LA Splash bottles are awkward to hold, so you get to see my ridge filler instead.

Another side note: OPI Ridge Filler is full of disappointment. But I'm almost out of Essie Fill the Gap, and I can't find anymore. Essie's Ridge Filling Base Coat isn't nearly as good either. BOO. First world problems.

Crimson Tide is a bit streaky, and because the brush stem is SO LONG, make sure you wipe it off really well before you start painting, or you'll wind up with random globs all over your fingers. I may or may not be speaking from experience. But if you wipe it off well, and stick with thin, careful coats, you'll be just fine. Here it is in the sun:

I'm really liking the fact that there are glints of red too, where the glitter is partially obscured by the base. I also like how unique this is, despite the fact that it's a vampy jelly. I haven't seen this jelly/glitter combination anywhere else. At first, I was thinking that they don't even go together, but I think somehow, it works!

Thoughts? Feelings? Do you love vamps as much as I do?

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

NYC Flat Iron Green

NYC Flat Iron Green is a core color from the In a New York Minute line, which is supposed to be quick-dry. It's a swampy dark green jelly that needs 4 coats for opacity. It does look black sometimes, but it usually reads green. Shown here is 4 coats, plus top coat.

There was no sun to be spoken of that day, so no sunlight pictures. I can, however, tell you that Flat Iron Green leans a bit more yellow/brown in direct sunlight. It's definitely a murky green compared to something like Illamasqua Rampage, or Verity Midnight Green (which I will show you in a few weeks, with comparison photos).

Now, it says QUICK DRY pretty clearly on the bottle up there, right? Yeah, uh, that's not exactly the case here. Maybe it's because Flat Iron Green is a jelly, but I found it to be very slow-drying. Slower than most of my other polishes. Luckily, it doesn't bubble much, but the slow dry time paired with the lack of opacity is kind of a bummer.

I originally bought this to calm my raging lemming for NARS Zulu, back in early 2010, before it was rereleased. I recall reading somewhere that Flat Iron Green and Zulu are dupes, but I'm not sure I think that's actually the case. They're quite similar, but based off of photos I think Zulu is more of a forest green than a swampy green. Nfu Oh 569 and Verity Midnight Green are also similar, but again, more forest-y than swampy. Apparently the formula on most of these colors is...not so good, so my personal suggestion would definitely be to go for one of the cheaper options. Unless you're a big dark green lover like me, you probably don't need many of these.

Thoughts? Feelings? Talk to me about dark greens. What are your favorites?

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

SHCSM Navy Baby

Sally Hansen Navy Baby is one of the core colors from the Complete Salon Manicure line. It's not a very unique color, but I'm quite fond of it all the same. It's almost opaque in one coat, but I used two, and as with any shimmer, top coat is essential.

Like many polishes that are dark, and/or blue, Navy Baby is a stainer, so be careful with application lest you wind up with something like what I've got going on with my pinky up there. Cleanup was rather frustrating, because it seemed like I was just spreading the blue around rather than actually cleaning it off. I failed at taking sunlight photos this time, so here's one I took a few months ago.

I just love the shimmer. It's so smooth and glowy, and not a trace of brushstrokes to be seen. And because the CSM paddle brush usually works well for me, the cuticle staining is not really an issue.

As for dupes...I can't think of anything exact off the top of my head, but most nail polish brands have at least one navy shimmer these days. I like this one because it's pure blue, without any purple leanings (which I personally loathe), but there are tons of options. There's Revlon Midnight Affair,  OPI Russian Navy, OPI Ink, Essie Midnight Cami, Wet n Wild Blue Moon, China Glaze Up All Night, and so on and so forth. I've heard that Navy Baby is a dupe for Chanel Blue Satin, so that might be additional temptation for you to choose this one?

Thoughts? Feelings? What's your favorite navy?

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

Some Random Catch-Up Spam

Soooooo. I thought I got into a bit of a groove with the posting, and then exams started. I also wound up with a sinus infection (that is just starting to go away, after 2-3 weeks), and an impacted wisdom tooth, as well as a cavity on the molar right next to the impacted wisdom tooth, so I've been having fun, LOL. I haven't really painted my nails much lately, but I post from a backlog of photos, so it's really a matter of working up the motivation to write up a post.

Here's some "Sorry-I've-Been-So-Unmotivated" spam. This will be a fairly long post.

Wet n Wild On a Trip in the sunlight. FYI, this is...not accurate. On a Trip is warmer and dustier, but it looks periwinkle in my photos. Do not believe them. Someday I'll figure out how to accurately photograph this sucker. Good formula though. Thin, but smooth. 3 coats.

Got bored of it pretty quickly, so I slapped on a coat of NYC Starry Silver Glitter. Not really feeling it. I think On a Trip is too dark of a base color, because the silver is too prominent for my liking. I should have used Connect the Dots instead.

Next up, Borghese Stellare Notte. Is it just me, or does this thing take FOREVER to dry? I didn't have any bubbling, but this took a loooooong time. 2 coats of nail polish should not need an hour and a half of dry time.

Despite the long drying time (and the crazy paddle brush), the formula was good, and there is a definite color shift, which was very difficult to capture on camera. It's really cool though. In some lights, it's a dark shimmery green, and it looks straight-up plum in other lighting situations.

Next, OPI Miami Beet. Not one of my favorite colors for manicures, as I feel that bright pinks are very weird on my hands, but it looks awesome on toes. Oh, and I decided to try out square/squoval nails for a while. You'll see my nail shape change quite a bit over the next few weeks. 3 coats, plus top coat.

Great formula, but as you can see, Miami Beet is more of a jelly-ish creme, which means that in direct light you can still see VNL. It's not at all visible otherwise though.

And last but not least, China Glaze Glittering Garland. It's dark green, and full of shimmery flecks, so obviously, I love it! 2 coats for opacity. I tried getting a macro shot to give you a better look at the shimmer, but it just wasn't happening that day. As always, you can click on my photos to get a closer look.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you've all been doing well! Happy Friday! I'm going back to bed.