OPI Rose Petals

OPI Rose Petals was released with the 2005 Soft Shades collection. It's a mauve-y, pinkish nude sheer that needs 4 coats for opacity. I borrowed this from my roommate, and I'm quite glad I did so instead of buying this, because it is just...not good.

See what I mean? It's too cool, and waaaaay too pink for me. The formula is fine, pretty standard for a semi-sheer polish, but this is not a flattering color. In the sun:

A little bit better now, but still. Bleh. So, there you have it. If you're tan, warm, and yellow-toned, stay awaaaaay.

Have you tried Rose Petals? Thoughts? Feelings?

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

Reswatch: Revlon Devil's Candy

Devil's Candy is my favorite red jelly, so I figured I'd reswatch because...yeah. Why not.

2 coats, super smooth formula, lots of general awesomeness. In the sun:

This was a limited edition polish from last fall, but I think the core color Fearless is quite close. I've already got too many red jellies, so I didn't get that one, but in the bottle it looks pretty close. I keep meaning to do a comparison between some of my reds, but it hasn't happened yet. Someday...

Thoughts? Feelings? Are you a red jelly addict like me?

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

Essie Wicked

Today I'm going to show you Essie Wicked. I don't think this came out with any particular collection, but it's widely regarded as a classic, and with good reason. Wicked is a squishy, vampy red jelly that is just full of win. 3 coats, plus top coat, in the shade:

In the sun:

You do have to be careful with application, as it can stain your cuticles red if you get the polish on your skin. And because it is a jelly, it can be a bit streaky, so you would do well to give it a few minutes between coats.

But just look at that shine! So cool. So awesome.

To be fair, this isn't exactly a unique color. Between Essie, Revlon, and OPI, you have tons of alternatives available. I think the OPI colors are mainly cremes rather than jellies, but Revlon has Devil's Lure, and Essie has many many vampy jellies out there. I'd list them all but...

Have you tried Wicked, or anything similar? Thoughts?

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

Nails Inc. Whitehall Teal

Helloooo! Luckily, my hiatus wound up being much much shorter than I thought it would be. My exam schedule was quite nice this semester, so I didn't need an entire month like I did in the past. Anyway, today I'm going to show you Nails Inc. Whitehall Teal. I believe the Nails Inc. magnetics came out around Fall 2011 or something. I'm a wee bit late, but whatever. Here is 1 coat of the polish before using the magnet:

If you're one for nail art or stamping, magnetics would probably be useful to you since they are so opaque. Here it is at 2 coats, with the magnet held over it.

Photos can't capture the awesomeness of this effect. It looks so 3D and cool in real life, kind of like those marbles with the stripes inside of them.

Now here's the drawback. I've actually had a few magnetics for quite some time, at least 4 or 5 months, and I have a hard time with them. My nails are curved, and I have shaky hands, so I have a hard time keeping the magnet steady to get a crisp pattern, and the design also doesn't reach all the way to the sides of my nails. The formula is good, but basically, I can only get a good design when my nails are short like this. But out of the magnetics that I have tried (aside from this, Icing and Sinful Colors), this magnet is a pretty good one, and the color is really really nice. I think Layla Metallic Sky is similar, but much bluer.

How do you feel about magnetics? If you've tried any, did you have the same problems I experienced?

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

Revlon After Party + Comparison

Hey y'all! Today I'm going to show you Revlon After Party. It's from the same collection as Guest List, which I posted last week. After Party is fabulous. It's a dusty teal creme. Here it is in the shade:

And in the sun:

Unfortunately, it has the exact same formula as Guest List, meaning that you will probably have to let the coats dry completely in between to prevent streaking, and it will most likely need 2-3 coats to even out anyway. Oh, and ignore the TOP SPEED labels because I'm pretty sure these take longer to dry than regular polish. 

BUT. I do quite like this color, as evidenced by the fact that I've also got Revlon Chic...let's compare the two, shall we? 2 coats of Chic versus 3 coats of After Party, with top coat. In the shade:

And in the sun:

They're not thaaaaat similar right? RIGHT??? Oh well, it's ok, they are both great colors.

On a side note, the end of the semester is quickly approaching and it's going to be killer, so I'm going to go on hiatus for a bit. I will hopefully resume posting towards the end of December.

Anyway, talk to me about dusty blues! What are your favorites? Do you have Chic or After Party? Do you have a weakness for dusty blues like me?

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

Ruby Kisses Regaled Out Blue

Ruby Kisses is one of those brands that I've only ever seen at hole-in-the-wall beauty supplies, so I have no idea whether they even do collections or anything of the sort. They're quite cheap, $1 per bottle, but most of the colors didn't interest me. Regaled Out Blue is a total exception! Let's take a look.

Squishy navy jelly awesomeness. I can't even.

Check out that gloss. I don't even have top coat on in these photos. Here it is in the sun:

Now, the formula...is not so good. It takes 3 coats, which isn't bad, but the polish is watery and runny, so you really have to be careful to avoid getting it all up in your cuticles. And the other thing is, once that blue gets onto your skin, good luck getting it out without messing up the rest of the polish. This stuff stains your skin pretty much instantly. But as you know, I'm a big jelly lover, and for a $1 polish that looks like this...I can forgive the other flaws. Or at least, overlook them.

I think there are several alternatives to Regaled Out Blue, since navy jellies aren't really that hard to come by. Color Club Blue-topia, for example, is close enough. L'oreal After Hours is darker, but similar. And Nfu Oh 119 is slightly purple-toned, but for all intents and purposes, these polishes are close enough that one of them will probably suffice. Sparitual also has a new dark blue jelly out for fall/winter called Osmium, but that one looks much darker, almost black.

Do you have any navy jellies? Love 'em? Hate 'em? Do their formulas suck too?

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

Revlon Guest List

Revlon Guest List is one of the LE Top Speeds from this fall, so it should still be available. The collection seemed to be party-themed, or something. Guest List is a murky olive green creme, and the first color of this sort that I've ever tried. I worried about my hands looking dirty or turning into lobster claws with olives, but I'm pleasantly surprised by this one! In the shade:

In warmer lighting (since the sun was nowhere to be found). This is a more accurate depiction of how it looks most of the time.

So, let's talk formula. I don't think Top Speeds and I get along very well. Apparently I can never seem to wait long enough between coats to prevent bald spots, which is weird because I wait several minutes, and that works just fine for non-quick dry polishes....So, because of the streaking, Guest List is a definite 3-coater. It could be solid in 2 if you can prevent the streaking.

As for dupes...I'm really not familiar with olive greens, as I had always ignored them because I figured they would look horrible. However, I could never really shake the Chanel Khaki Vert lemming until now. I think this is like a more flattering version of Khaki Vert (which is grayer, and a bit browner). For reference, check out theasiangirl's swatch on Tumblr. She and I have very similar skintones, so I know I can rely on her swatches.

Have you ever tried an olive green polish? Did you wind up liking it, or hating it?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week! And for my American readers, have a great Thanksgiving! 

SHCSM Dorien Gray + Pure Ice Heartbreaker + Nails Inc. the Wyndham

I've shown you Dorien Gray quite a few times now, so I'll spare you another set of swatches. 1 coat of Pure Ice Heartbreaker adds a subtle green shimmer without changing the base color.

I'm actually really happy with how this combo looks!

Yaaayyy more picspam because why not....on a side note, I think I am getting sick of my square nails. They are starting to verge on duck nail territory.....that is a dangerous place to be.....

And to that, I added one coat of Nails Inc. the Wyndham.

I love layering but I think this last addition was a mistake. Boo.

Not to mention, a huge pain to photograph! I couldn't get any sun for the last few posts, and now, there is too much sun! Nail blogger problems, y'all.

Yeah, I don't think I can get used to the square nails. Too weird for me. Love 'em on others, but this is not working for me. Oh well!

Have you ever taken the layering thing a step too far? Ever changed up your nail shape? How'd that go? Loved it? Hated it?

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

Reswatch: $OPI Slushied

Slushied was released in early 2011 as part of the Glee Collection. The collection as a whole was pretty boring, but I was drawn to this cheery blue creme. 2 coats, no top coat.

The formula was fan-freaking-tastic, I must say. Very smooth, self-leveling, and look at that shine!

Also, I don't know about you, but Slushied reminds me more of this than Glee:

(side note: I saved this picture to my computer over a year ago and can no longer remember/find the source...if anyone happens to know, please tell me so I can give credit where it is due)

Someday I'll do nails with black & blue Adidas stripes. That would be fun, and I think my roommate would die of excitement. She's a huuuuuge Leverkusen fan.

Did you pick up any of the $OPI Glee colors? What did you think?

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

Sinful Colors Slate

Sinful Colors Slate was released with the Destination America collection in Fall 2011. It is an interesting gray shimmer that is almost opaque in 2 coats, but does need a third. No complaints about formula. Once again, there was no sunlight when I took these photos, so you get artificial light photos today.

As you can see, the base is a medium grey, with slight blue undertones, and the shimmer is silvery. Unfortunately, the shimmer does border on frosty, as you can see when the light is diffused.

Yeah....not so good....it doesn't usually look this frosty, but since it does sometimes I figured I'd show you anyway. One interesting I noticed was that in addition to the silver shimmer, there are dark grey specks.

They're not obvious or visible when you're just looking at your hand, rather than through a camera lens, but the dark flecks do add a bit of interest and depth to an otherwise boring polish. 

I don't think there are any dupes of this polish, at least, not any that I am familiar with, but all the same, I am not too thrilled about Slate. It's not bad, but it's not that interesting to me. Plus, I don't think medium greys are very flattering on me. I love light greys like Dorien Grey, and super dark greys, but the medium ones are kind of blah. Oh well, they can't all be winners, right?

Have you tried Slate? How do you feel about these types of greys?

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

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet is your standard red glitter in a red jelly base. I gotta tell ya, this polish stinks. Weird, because usually the extra-smelly ones are medium blues. Anyway, 3 coats, top coat, artificial light.

Since the glitter is in a jelly base, I think the 3 coats are definitely necessary. There's still a bit of VNL, but it's not a big deal. In the shade:

Good, smooth formula, and I quite like the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear brush. It's wider than say, an Essie brush, but not as wide as an OPI.

This color is core, so it should be widely available, but either way, there are lots of alternatives. The first ones that come to mind are China Glaze Ruby Pumps and Zoya Jade. The red glitter & red jelly combo is kind of seen as a classic amongst online polish addicts, and is popular amongst 'Muggles,' but while I do think it's a nice enough color, honestly, I don't get the hype. This was one of my first nail polishes, given to me as a random present from an aunt well before I had any interest in painting my nails, and I can safely say that I would not have gotten it on my own. It's not bad, but it's very....meh.

Do you have any of the red glitter/red jelly polishes? How do you feel about them?

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

Reswatch: Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle

I didn't feel like my last post of this polish did it justice. I don't think these photos do either, but I figured since I gave it a shot, I'd go ahead and post! Razzle Dazzle consists of 2 sizes of very small magenta hex glitters in a dark berry jelly base. 3 coats, plus 1 coat of Gelous.

I. Love. This. Polish. And I'm sure I've told you before of my distaste for pink, but this is just fantastic.

Bummer that Lippmanns are so expensive, because they are truly awesome (aside from Wicked Game).

So yeah. Not much to say today. I'm going to go take a nap. Have you tried Razzle Dazzle? What were your thoughts on it?

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

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri In a Flurry

Sally Hansen In a Flurry is a limited edition polish for Fall 2012. Look at me, posting something LE while it's still available! I think. Anyway, In a Flurry is a very interesting polish. It consists of blue and green flecks and fine purple shimmer in a dark, murky, blackish green base. On its own, it requires 3 coats, so here's that in the shade. I'm not sure how much it shows in the photos, but a fourth coat would have done some good.

Be gentle, this is my right hand! I was too lazy to swatch twice, so I have it on alone on my right hand, and layered over black on my left. As always, you can click on my photos to get a closer look.

I'll be blunt: this polish is pretty disappointing on its own. It looks stunning in the bottle, but I feel that a lot of that gorgeous, complex shimmer gets lost in the base, despite the fact that it's sheer enough to need 3 coats. Now, if you layer 2 coats over black, it looks much nicer.

In the sun:

Now that it's layered over black, you can see some of the shimmer. It's still not as nice on the nail as it is in the bottle, but over black is a drastic improvement.

I feel like it just looks a lot cleaner and more crisp over black. Here's a macro in some crappy lighting so you can see the texture of the shimmer:

The shimmer still kinda gets lost in the base, but as a black polish lover, I am still a fan of In a Flurry. This is my only Insta-Dri because the brushes are so bad, but I'm actually willing to overlook it for this.

On a side note, I think I'm finally getting used to squovals! I kinda like them at this shape/length, actually. It's an interesting change after having round/oval nails for so long.

On yet another side note, HOW 'BOUT THAT ELECTION? This was the first election I could legally vote in. I am so excited, and I am so happy that MD passed Questions 4 and 6.

Thoughts? Feelings? Have you tried In a Flurry? Do you hate the Insta-Dri brush as much as I do?

My First Water Marble!

I've always admired water marbles on other people, but got it in my head that they are totally impossible so I shouldn't even bother trying anyway. But then my mom and niece saw one and were like "NAZ YOU NEED TO TRY THIS IT LOOKS SUPER COOL." So I watched a few Youtube videos, tried marbling a few individual nails until I felt I had kinda started to get the hang of it, and then attempted a full mani. Here's my left hand:

As you can see, I messed up the ring fingernail, and I feel like the designs turned out too simple for my liking. But I started with the pinky nail on this hand, so I think I improved a bit by the time I finished my right hand.

I marbled with Sinful Colors Open Seas and $OPI Slushied, over a base of OPI Ridge Filler, which toned them down quite a bit.

Aaaaaand now I am hooked on water marbling. I have another one to show you later on, but in the meantime, talk to me about water marbling! Have you ever tried it? How did it go? What are your favorite color combinations?

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

Revlon Royal

Revlon Royal is a medium blue jelly with a horrendous formula. Despite being part of the Top Speed line, it dries very slowly, is runny and watery, and bubbles. And it smells awful. I know this color is quite popular amongst online polish addicts, but I am not impressed. 3 coats, no top coat.

You can see some of the bubbling on my middle fingernail. I love how vivid the color is, but it's such a pain to work with. It's getting purged for sure. The only way I can use this without myriad bubbles is in a jelly sandwich. In the sun:

Yayyy more bubbles. >:| Luckily, I don't think this color is all that unique. Essence Cool and the Gang looks pretty similar, and plenty of brands have put out vivid medium blues recently. Orly Royal Navy is also close, but has shimmer. I've heard that the shimmer in Royal Navy has a tendency to settle so if you let that happen and then polish from the top of the bottle, you should be able to get a pretty similar effect. I believe RBL IKB:2012 is similar, but has a slight purple/indigo tinge to it that the others lack. It's also much more expensive and more difficult to get ahold of, so I'd suggest the Orly over the others.

Have you tried Royal? Was it as much of a disappointment for you as it was for me?

Thanks for looking & commenting, and happy Friday!! Have a great weekend.

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!