SHCSM Greige

SHCSM Greige was not released with a particular collection, as far as I know, but is one of the new-ish colors released with the revamped Complete Salon Manicure line. I'm not sure why they felt the need to revamp it, as the two new ones I've obtained have the same formula as my older ones...but whatever. Greige, as you may have guessed...is a greige creme.

It sort of annoys me that the label on my bottle is so crooked. But the formula isn't bad. It's not great, a thick 3-coater, but it's not that bad.

This is among the colors I got so I would have things to wear to work that wouldn't bore the bejeezus out of me. And I have to say, I do like this one. I always thought I had to stick to cool-toned greys, and avoid taupe-y colors, but I feel like this one is working for me.

It's also quite glossy alone. I didn't use top coat here. Oh, and I should note that this is quite different from SHCSM Greige Gardens. Greige is darker, leans slightly brown, and has no purple in it whatsoever. Greige also has a better formula, but I like both colors.

Once again, this isn't the most unique color. The first similar one that comes to mind is Essie Chinchilly, which looks a bit lighter and just a smidge more brown. Same goes for American Apparel Mouse. You probably won't go wrong with any of the three.

Have you tried Greige, or any of the other new-ish SHCSMs? Thoughts?

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

HARE King of Carat Flowers

Blegh, Monday. On the bright side, I have my first HARE polish to show you! King of Carat Flowers was released last fall with the Finders Keepers collection, which was packed with interesting and unexpected glitters. This is one that could be worn on its own, but I've been advised that layering really helps, so I chose to layer 2 coats of King of Carat Flowers over 2 coats of SHCSM Dorien Gray, which I've already gushed to you about.

Check it out! Yellow/gold glitter, lavender glitter, delicate gold shimmer, and glints of iridescent blue glitter in a light grey base. I really really love this. Let's take a closer look:

Since I layered it, application was a breeze, and I didn't have to place the glitter or anything. It distributed itself nicely with my normal application method. I had this on my wishlist for a few months before I caved and bought it, and I'm so glad it didn't disappoint! Now I just need to get my hands on Bisbee and Archipelago.

Do you have any HAREs? What do you think?

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

SHCSM Greige Gardens + Lynnderella Connect the Dots

SHCSM Greige Gardens is a relatively new core color. I don't know details of the release, but I started seeing it in stores last spring. I love these types of greige/purple-y colors, but I always worry about how they'd look against my skintone, so I never bought any, but I recently found Greige Gardens on clearance at Target, and decided to cave. I'm glad I did, because it is lovely.

This is 4 coats, without top coat. It dries glossy, and the formula is smooth, but it's a lot more sheer than I think a creme should be. 4 coats for a creme is a bit much. I'm hoping this will go the way of Dorien Grey and improve with time, because I really like this color.

Then I decided to top it with 2 coats of Lynnderella Connect the Dots, and one coat of Gelous. I am in love with this combination.

YAY, square glitter! Those black squares are my favorite part of Connect the Dots, aside from the gigantic black hexes. I know there are tons of alternatives and approximations of Connect the Dots out there, and lots of drama associated with all this, but I still think this one is the nicest. Even with the bar glitter. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the bar glitter fits in really nicely with the other glitters, without reminding me of bacilli or beard trimmings.

It's also worth noting that I've now had this polish for roughly a year and a half, and I've had no issues with sinking glitter, or warping/bleeding/melting, so I'm very pleased in that regard. I totally understand why extensive testing isn't practical for indies, but it is still one of my concerns as a consumer, so I thought I'd throw that in there. If only Lynnderellas still cost $12...

Now, let's talk about similar polishes. For Greige Gardens, three polishes come to mind: Parlez Vous OPI?, A-England Guinevere, and China Glaze Below Deck. Parlez Vous OPI is warmer, more purple, and discontinued; Guinevere is more purple, although I have a hard time judging warmth vs. coolness because of variations between swatches; and Below Deck is darker, warmer, and more purple. Below Deck is definitely the most different of the four.

Connect the Dots, as I've previously mentioned, has a buttload of cousins. I vaguely considered listing them, but ain't nobody got time for that. Except for Chalkboard Nails. Her black & white glitter mega post is awesome and really helpful, so I'll just direct you over there, and you can see for yourself.

Greige seems to be one of those love it or hate it sorts of colors- how do you feel about it? Have you tried Greige Gardens, or Connect the Dots? Or perhaps any of the other black and white glitters? Thoughts?

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

Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Copperhead

Today I'll be showing you a Lustre Shine. These were released fairly recently, last fall I believe? In stores, there are six colors available (Plume, Firefly, Moonstone, Lava, Copperhead, and Scarab), and I've heard that online, there are two others available (Gilt and Azure). Most of these are dupes to other recently released polishes, and Lava looks really similar to OPI The Show Must Go On, so I passed on everything but Copperhead. I'm reasonably pleased with this one, I guess? It's not awful. 3 coats, no top coat:

It's a brownish, coppery metallic. Sadly, that greenish shimmer you can see in the bottle doesn't actually show up on the nail. It is a bit frosty, but with careful application, you can minimize the brushstrokes. It's solid in 2 coats, but I found that a third really adds depth, so I'd recommend the full 3. Drying time is quick, but I noticed that the wear was not so good. My tips started wearing down by the end of the day...disappointing. At least it's an interesting duochrome?

I have to admit, I think the greyish/plummy shift was a really weird choice. I don't think it complements the base color that well, so this is one of those rare cases where I'm glad that the duochrome isn't super obvious. Oh well, they can't all be winners. Luckily, my mom loves this one, so it'll be headed for her stash.

As far as dupes go, I can't think of any. I'm guessing most companies haven't put out a duochrome like this because the colors don't complement each other too well, lol.

Have you tried Copperhead, or any of the Lustre Shines? What did you think?

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

SHCSM Guilty Pleasure

SHCSM Guilty Pleasure is one of the core colors from the Complete Salon Manicure line. It's also one of the colors that started my polish addiction. It's more of a muted gold, and one of those colors I reach for when I'm trying to be a little less obnoxious with my manicures. 2 coats, with top coat.

See that fill line? Right above the word complete. I'm going to need a second bottle of this, very soon...I love it for pedicures too. I know many people have trouble with the CSM brush, but it works very well for me so I had no trouble with application. It isn't frosty either. In the sun:

Love. I don't think there's a particularly well-known gold polish quite like this. Most golds are brighter, flashier, and yellow-er. I think the new version of A-England Holy Grail is similar, but it's a foil, and has some greenish undertones. Guilty Pleasure is core though, so no worries!

Have you tried Guilty Pleasure, or a similar gold? Thoughts?

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

Grey/Magenta Water Marble

So, I was so stoked about my first water marble that I just had to do another one! This time I chose OPI Miami Beet and SHCSM Dorien Grey. Grey and pink is a fun color combo, and I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. I started with a base of 2 coats of Dorien Grey. My left hand, in the shade:

Unfortunately, the design smeared a bit when I put on top coat. :( I should have waited longer. In the sun:

And here's my right hand! I decided not to top coat this one because I was happier with these designs (especially the pinky) and I didn't want to risk smearing them. Sorry about the wonky nail shapes, and I don't know what those little bumps on my middle fingernail are. Oh well.

I had fewer translucent patches of Miami Beet on this hand. One of these days I'll figure out how to get rid of those altogether.

Thoughts? Feelings?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you had a great New Year's!

Top 30 of 2012! (part 3)

I don't post a whole lot of layering combinations, but that's mostly because I don't get around to photographing them. Here are the colors that I've reached for the most. First up, the base colors.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dorien Grey

A nice, simple, clean light grey creme. It's so versatile!

Ruby Kisses Regaled Out Blue

Dark blue goes with a lot of things, and I can't resist a nice jelly.

China Glaze VIII

An excellent basic eggplant creme. Smooth formula, dries quickly, completely solid in 2 coats.

Nails Inc. Kensington

Inky teal jelly, almost black. Works really well for water marbling, too!

New York Summer Hot Sky Blue

Another squishy blue jelly! This is great for jelly sandwiches, and also looks awesome under flakies.

And my favorite layering polishes:

Lynnderella Connect the Dots

Yep, it's on two of my lists. It's that good. With black and white glitter, there are so many layering possibilities!

Nails Inc. the Wyndham

This has the distinction of being my first flakie polish, and it remains my favorite. The green is so vivid, and there is a very evident blue shift.

Finger Paints Asylum

It has blue flakies!! I have been lusting after a flakie with just blue, but since I loathe Nfu Oh bottles and find Inglot to be too much of a hassle to get ahold of, this is as close as I will get for a while. It is lovely though.

Essie As Gold as it Gets

Sheer gold flecks. This is really delicate and pretty, especially over dusty, mid-toned colors.

Essie Shine of the Times

A basic orange-green flakie. It's very dense, so you don't need  much at all for a single manicure.

So, there you have it! My 30 favorites from last year. Thoughts? Do you like layering too, or do you find it troublesome?

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!

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!

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?

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!

Reswatch: SHCSM Dorien Grey

While I do love how grey polishes look on other people, I'm not too crazy about them on me, with the exception of this one. I think I might have posted it sometime last year, but I was looking back through my old photos and oy. Horrendous. Since I wore it again recently, I figured I'd go ahead and repost it. In the shade:

I remember having quite a bit of trouble with this the first time I used it. It was streaky and watery and a four-coater. It has improved with time though. Since it's thickened up a bit, it's now much easier to work with. It still needs three coats for opacity, but that's alright. It dries nice and shiny too. Both the photos in this post show the polish without any top coat. In the sunlight:

So yeah. Nothing particularly exciting or innovative here, but a pretty decent color (with a fabulous name) nonetheless.

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

Jumping on the Gradient Bandwagon...(and SHXW Sun Kissed)

AKA one of the few instances of nail art you will probably ever see here, lol. I knew going into it that sponging would be difficult, but jeez :| Nail art is just not my thing. Luckily, after 3 or 4 rounds of sponging (and a thick coat of Gelous afterward), I got this result:

I used 1 coat of Essie Ole Caliente for the base, and as you can see, SHXW Sun Kissed is the other color. In retrospect, I should have sponged the orange onto the tips rather than the base, because I can see a few spots around my eponychia where Ole Caliente is still visible...I also had issues with flooding, because I put too much polish on the sponge. Cleanup was a nightmare, but I think that's kind of to be expected. I wound up just picking off the excess polish in the shower.

Despite the difficulties, I can see why gradients are so popular right now! All the flaws you can see in the macro shots aren't visible from a normal distance, so it looks really cool in person. Kinda reminds me of some sort of fruity summery drink.

I've already shown you Ole Caliente, but here's a photo of Sun Kissed that I took a while ago, under artificial light. It's actually a lot more yellow-toned than you'd think based on my photo of the gradient.

The formula is...not good. It's really thin and watery, and needs 4 coats for opacity. It is very bright and fun though, and the drying time wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and enjoy your weekend!

SHCSM Petrol + LA Splash Midnight Rain

Petrol is one of the colors released as part of Sally Hansen's Spring 2012 collaboration with Alexander Wang. The brand also collaborated with Tracy Reese and Prabal Gurung, but none of those colors appealed to me. To be honest, Petrol was the only color that piqued my interest, and it wound up being quite a disappointment. See that nice, rich, dark navy blue in the bottle? See that ridiculous black color on my nails? I already have 2 bottles of black cremes, I did not need this :|

Lame. Super lame. Under artificial light (still lame):

Brush and formula are good, as usual. I'm probably going to dump out a bit and top it off with Essie Mesmerize or OPI Ski Teal We Drop to lighten it up a bit. Petrol in its natural state did, however, make a great base for LA Splash Midnight Rain!

Midnight Rain consists of small red and blue hex glitter (with the occasional odd piece of silver hex glitter) and superfine blue square glitter in a sheer navy base. I used 2 coats over Petrol, and no top coat. Most glitter polishes dry dull, but Midnight Rain is surprisingly glossy! I've been drooling over Midnight Rain for about a year now, and I randomly came across it at Harmon the other day. Unlike Petrol, Midnight Rain does not disappoint.

Man, I love glitter. I love the way the red glitter stands out against the blue. It's just awesome, and a welcome relief after the disappointments that are Petrol and Pinta.

Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for looking and commenting!