Revlon Divine

Whoops, I inadvertently disappeared again. But I am here to, for once, post about an LE in a somewhat-timely fashion! Revlon Divine is part of the Evening Opulence collection for Fall 2013, designed by Gucci Westman.

The collection includes another 3 colors: Rich (which looks just like Carbonite), Elusive (a black/teal glitter that looked AWESOME in the bottle, not so much in swatches), and Seductive (a deep purple jelly). I really wanted to like Elusive, especially since in the bottle, it looks like a teal version of Facets of Fuchsia, but nope. It dries matte, which isn't a big deal, but the base is so opaque that a lot of the glitter gets lost, and the result is just sort of lumpy. Top coat is definitely an improvement, but I think I'd rather franken something similar that would be a better fit to my preferences.

Anyway, Divine! Divine might look familiar to you, as it's quite similar to Germanicure by OPI and my all-time favorite, OPI Royal Rajah Ruby! Here it is in the shade:

Dat shimmer! Here it is in the sun:

And another picture of the shimmer, because why not.

How great is that? I know, once again, not the most unique color on the planet, but I love it anyway. I probably won't have time to do a proper comparison to Royal Rajah Ruby, but I do have a swatch from last fall that I hadn't posted. So, for reference, RRR:

I think I can finally stop obsessing over backups, LOL.

On an entirely unrelated note, who else is preemptively freaking out in anticipation of Breaking Bad!? OMGGGGG. I don't think I've ever hated a fictional character quite as much as Walt. Maybe Schillinger. Or Adebisi. But Oz is chock full of unequivocally horrible people.

Have you tried Divine, or any of the other Gucci Westman colors? Were you as disappointed in Elusive as me?

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

Reswatch: Essie Ole Caliente

Essie Ole Caliente was from the Spring 2012 Navigate Her collection. I wore it again as a pedicure recently and thought, eh, it's been over a year since I first blogged this polish, why not reswatch? I'm still not crazy about it as a manicure, but like Where's My Chauffeur, it looks even better with a tan.

Last time I wore this, I noted that four thin coats was the way to go. Ole Caliente has thickened up in that time, and was nearly solid in 1. I should have given it time to dry between coats though, because I wound up needing 3 coats to even it out anyway because of the streaking.

Oh, and just a quick note about the color: Ole Caliente isn't this orange on me IRL. It's more pink, and it's definitely brighter. My camera apparently had trouble with this color, too.

I remember reading last spring that Ole Caliente is either identical or very very similar to OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where? which was released at the same time. And this year's Resort collection brings us another near-dupe, called Come Here. Let's be honest, this isn't a very unique color, lol.

Have you tried Ole Caliente, or any of the countless similar colors? What do you think? Do you like bright pinks and corals on your fingernails, or are you like me and reserve them for pedicures?

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

Wet n Wild Under Your Spell + Comparison

Wet n Wild Under Your Spell is one of the Megalast colors. Truth be told, I have no clue whether it's core or LE, but it seems to have been released in early 2010. It was sitting in the rack at a local CVS, and since I had some Extrabucks, I figured, why not? Besides, I thought it might be a good, cheap alternative to my beloved OPI Royal Rajah Ruby. More on that later, but in the meantime, Under Your Spell. Here it is in the shade:

Since it's a vampy shimmer, same caveat applies: it's dark and my camera freaked out, you know the deal. The shimmer isn't super prominent in the shade, but it's certainly more visible than OPI Black Cherry Chutney. Now, take a look at it in the sun:

Muuuuch better. As you might be aware, the not-so-new-at-this-point Megalast polishes have biiiig brushes. They are big, and they are fluffy, but they aren't as bad as you might expect. It was thin and watery on the first coat, but I was pleased to find that it was solid in 3 coats. I figured I was going to have to layer it over black to reach opacity, but fortunately that isn't necessary!

Now, let's see how it compares to Royal Rajah Ruby. Royal Rajah Ruby is on my index and ring fingernails, and Under Your Spell is on the middle and pinky fingernails.

They do look quite similar! Royal Rajah Ruby has warmer, more prominent shimmer.

Okaaaay, to most people I guess they're pretty much the same. And it'll do as an alternative, but I have to admit I still like the OPI better.

Now the difference is a little clearer. It's not too obvious in this photo, but Royal Rajah Ruby has a reddish/brown base, whereas Under Your Spell is black-based. The OPI is also more opaque.

Thoughts? Are you as weird and picky about basic dark red shimmers as I am?

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

OPI DS Indulgence

HAPPY FRIDAY! I don't know about you guys but I am SUPER stoked this Friday. Why? My presentations are over. They weren't formal presentations or anything, more like standing in front of my poster and presenting to whoever walked up and asked me about my project, but it went on for five hours. Also, my lower back and I learned the importance of supportive shoes. Oy. Anyway, I am so relieved, and it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. So let's end the week with one of my new favorites.

OPI DS Indulgence was one of two Designer Series colors released in Fall 2012. The other was Luxurious, a fiery orange foil that is quite pretty, but not really my thing. Indulgence, on the other hand, is perfect.

This is three thin coats, with no top coat. Application was excellent, and I didn't even have to clean up!

That gold shimmer is even more spectacular in the sun.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm really excited about this. More Top 20 material!

Zoya Kimmy and Zoya Reva struck me as similar, but they seem more foil-like, and Reva is more berry/pink. I do like the Zoya foils I've tried, but out of the three I'd go with Indulgence, personally. If you're in Europe, check out P2 Hot Berry! Like Kimmy, it is more of a foil than Indulgence, but the gold shimmer looks nice and visible.

Have you tried either of the two OPI Designer Series from last fall? What do you think?

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

Zoya Blaze

Hah, after a month straight of an indie, it almost feels a little odd to post a commercial polish! But this one is an absolute stunner. Zoya Blaze is from the Ornate collection, Zoya's offering for this past holiday season. The Ornate collection had the distinction of containing Zoya's first holos: Storm, Aurora, and Blaze. Predictably enough, I'm not crazy about the purple, but I was surprised to find that not only did  I not care for the black, I fell for the red/pink/berry/whatever you want to call it!

Prior to this, I had been having some trouble with my manis. Lots of disappointment. Unlike Eclectic, Valerie, and Kelly, Blaze was just delightful to work with. Smooth formula, with a good drying time. I found that Blaze was even in 2 coats, but a third added depth. Here it is in the sun:

I did apply top coat before taking these pictures, but I want to point out that it was quite shiny alone! You could forego the topcoat if you were so inclined. It's weird and unexpected how much I like this color. When I wore it, I even did my pedicure to match. That almost never happens.

Oh, and for the record, the holographic bits are a lot more rainbow-y in person. More camera problems...

So, my 3 year-old niece has picked up on my ever-changing nail color, and always grabs my hands to inspect them when she sees me. She seemed to really like this one, because when she looked at it she grinned at me and said, "Naz! Pretty color!!"

I can't think of any dupes for this. I know Picture Polish recently released Shocked, but that is a lighter and brighter pink. There's Ozotic Pro 621, which is definitely red with slightly orange-y undertones, Picture Polish Monroe, which is a vampy red. Not to mention, 621 and Monroe both have different kinds of scattered holo finishes! They are all pretty colors in their own right, but I'd still choose Blaze over them.

Have you tried Blaze, or any of the other Zoya Ornate colors? Thoughts?

Contrary Polish Firebrand

Contrary Polish Firebrand is one of the original six shades. According to Carrie, Firebrand is one of her top sellers, and I completely understand why! It seems like a pretty boring red, but it's really lovely.

I've told you countless times of my love for vampy reds, and this one is a shimmery jelly to boot! So pretty. I did use 4 super-thin coats, but they dried quickly, and zero bubbling. Bonus: it cleans up nicely! Most reds and vamps tend to spread their reddish pigment around when you try to clean up, so your skin looks angry and inflamed, but this is not an issue with Firebrand.

It has some berryish tones that keep it from being a plain dark red. This is such a flattering, classic color. Since it's a berryish red, I'm sure there's a dupe or something close out there, but I'm quite pleased with this one.

Have you tried Firebrand? What do you think?

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

Illamasqua Charisma

Illamasqua Charisma was released with the Generation Q Collection for Fall/Winter 2012. It consists of a berry base with red and gold shimmer. This is 3 coats, with top coat, in the shade.

And in the sun:

The formula was great. It's solid in 2 coats, but I found that a third added depth. I'm one of those people that never ever matches my tips and toes because I find it boring, but I love this color enough that I sported Charisma tips and toes for a week straight. Here's another sunlight pic, because...why not.

OPI Diva of Geneva is similar, but it's much cooler-toned, with pink and purple leanings. Charisma is definitely warm. As it's a berry shimmer, I'm sure there are other similar colors, but Diva of Geneva is the only one I can think of at the moment. Either way, it's awesome.

Have you tried Charisma, or any similar colors? Thoughts?

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

Top 30 of 2012! (part 2)

Today I'll show you my favorite indies. To be fair, I don't own many indies, 13 or 14, but for the most part, I really like the ones that I have!

HARE King of Carat Flowers

Unique glitters in a light grey base? Sold. And hello, there's square glitter!!

HARE Cast in Bronze

Application with this one was difficult, but I can forgive that for such a beautiful color. And look, more squares!

HARE Star Tropics

Can you tell I like square glitter? This was my mani for New Year's, and while it is quite thick, the end result is fantaaaaaaastic.

Across the Ocean

This is a franken that I made over the summer! Although I'm not an indie seller (and do not ever plan on becoming one), I threw this one in here because it doesn't really fit in anywhere else. I'm sure you can guess what my reference was when I made this ;)

Contrary Polish Firebrand

I've told you time and again of my love for reds, vampies, and jellies, so it makes perfect sense that I love Firebrand.

Contrary Polish Inky Fingers

Just a note: Inky Fingers is more purple than it looks in my picture. It's like the dark, inky, moody sister of Sephora Pantone Parachute Purple. Excellent formula, and really cool shimmer.

Contrary Polish Anna Maria

Contrary Polish makes some really cool, unexpected shimmers. Murky teal with yellow shimmer? LOVE.

Twili

This one was a custom, and I am absolutely in love with the result. Great formula, and the balance of shimmer to base color is just perfect.

Pahlish Toxic and Timeless

I have an older, barless version of this polish, and it is just so freaking cool. The wear is amazing too. I wore this for ten days! When I get to blogging about this properly, you'll see the end result.

Lynnderella Connect the Dots

Even though this was released in 2011, it has a spot on my list because it's that awesome. Yes, there are 75083672308573028 different versions of this out there, but this has the distinction of having the only bar glitter that I don't hate. I actually like it. What.

Thoughts? Do we have any indie favorites in common? I know it took me a very long time to warm up to indies (aside from Lynnderella, whom I ordered from a few months after she opened), so I'm curious, have you jumped on the indie bandwagon?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're doing well!

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!

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!

Devil's Blood, or Tiger's Candy? A Red Jelly Sandwich

Good morning! Today's manicure is one that I came up with while swatching endless layering combinations of jellies and glitters on my nail wheels. I initially thought that Revlon Devil's Candy would be way too opaque for a jelly sandwich, since it is solid in 2 coats, but turns out it does work alright if you use a thin coat! This is 2 coats of Devil's Candy and 1 coat of Icing Tiger's Blood, topped off with a final coat of Devil's Candy. I did use top coat in these photos.

It doesn't have as much depth as a regular jelly sandwich, but it does vaguely remind me of what I was hoping RBL Poppy would be. I saw the bottle shots and was ooooohing and aaaahing over the shimmer flecks, but it doesn't often translate onto the nail that way...Poppy is no exception.

Here you can see the glitter a bit better. It's definitely different from what I'm used to, but I don't think it was an entirely unsuccessful experiment. Just more bold than I'm used to, haha.

Thoughts? Have you ever tried a jelly sandwich?

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

Franken Friday #7: Death Mountain

Hey! Today I've got for you a franken that's not terribly unique, but one that I'm reasonably fond of all the same. You've probably heard of NerdLacquer, and for a while I lusted after her nail polish Warrior Ethos, but obviously, I'm not going to get ahold of that anytime soon unless I pay out the behind on Ebay or swap something else that's HTF.

I enjoy frankening, so I figured I'd go ahead and make my own version. I've also been plotting a series of frankens inspired by my favorite Zelda games, and this coincided with my idea for a Death Mountain nail polish. Death Mountain is a volcano just past Kakariko Village, so I went with a red.

This is 3 coats of my franken, with top coat, in the shade.

In the sunlight:

As you can see, I took a great deal of liberty with the colors, but I did say "inspired" right? Basically, it's a neutral-warm red jelly with a bunch of different hex glitters. Mostly red and gold, but with a fair bit of fine black glitter, and glints of copper here and there. I think that since Death Mountain is a volcano, my franken needs a bit of orange to warm it up and make it more fiery.

There are also a few holo hexes here and there, but I think adding those was a mistake. It seems like a bit much, and I don't really feel like it goes with the rest of the colors in the polish.

Thoughts? If you've got any constructive criticism, I'd love to hear it! Don't be shy. :) Oh, and any other Zelda fans around here??

Thanks for looking and commenting, and happy Friday!! Enjoy your weekend!

OPI Smitten With Mittens

OPI Smitten With Mittens was released as part of the Holiday Wishes collection in 2009. It consists of big gold glass-flecks/foil-y flecks in a red jelly base. As a result, it usually looks like a red glass-fleck or glitter, but sometimes when the light hits it right, you can see bits of gold. It's lovely, and opaque in 2 coats despite the jelly base. I think the opacity of the base is the reason that the gold isn't too visible. 2 coats plus top coat.

It's definitely on the cool side of red, but close enough to neutral that I think warmer skintones like mine can pull it off. It's a bit bold for me, but I love it. The formula is great, and I have no complaints about the drying time.

I think Zoya might have a few reds sort of like this. Jade or Delilah, maybe? I think those are actual glitters, and red ones at that, so the finishes are definitely not the same. It also reminds me of OPI Ali's Big Break from the Burlesque collection, but I think that one has a brighter red base, and red/pink flecks rather than gold.

They might be worth looking into though, since Smitten With Mittens has been discontinued, and seems to go for around $20 on Ebay. That said, it's not all that hard to find. I've seen several bottles at several different CVS stores in my area.

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