[Review+Swatch] Sally Hansen Halloween 2014 Big Glitter Top Coats

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Hi guys! Halloween is coming up in a few days! To be honest, I'm not a fan of Halloween and the whole blood/gore/horror genre. But I do love seeing everyone's Halloween manis. If you're looking for simple, quick fix for your Halloween mani, check out these two glitters from Sally Hansen. :]

Costume Glitters, 1 coat over OPI Cinnamon: silver and silver holographic glitter top coat. The formula was great - easy to apply with good glitter payoff. My light box always cancels out the holo effect, but you can see the holo squares and hexes in the bottle. :)

Dressed To Thrill, 1 coat over OPI Sleigh Parking Only: gold and holographic glitter top coat. I can't tell if the squares are gold too, but it looks silver in my pictures. This is like the gold version of Costume Glitters, and applies just as well. It's so sparkly in real life!

Verdict: They're simple and easy glitter mixes that work over any color. It's a great way to glam up your mani, and not just for Halloween!

Availability: Sally Hansen nail polishes are available at most mass retailers. Click here for a specific list of stores.

[Review+Swatch] OPI Ford Mustang Collection

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Hi everyone! I have a quick review of OPI's limited edition Ford Mustang collection for you today. :)

[Review+Swatch] OPI Gwen Stefani Collection

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Hey guys! It's already Friday - TGIF! Today I have swatches of the new Gwen Stefani for OPI collection. This collection features several different finishes, so there's something for everyone. There's also nail art at the end, so keep reading!

China Glaze Fall 2012 On Safari Swatches

Hello, hello!  I'm so excited to show you these new China Glaze On Safari shades today.  I have five from the collection, so let's get to it! :D  My swatches are all shown without top coat. 

Man Hunt, 2 coats: bright blue creme-jelly hybrid.  I love how blue this is.  It looks navy indoors, but outdoors it's so blue and yummy.  It seemed more like a jelly on the first coat, but it became nice and opaque at two.  Even though it's opaque, I think it still looks kind of squishy.  The formula was nice as well.

Exotic Encounters, 2 coats: a dusty teal-green creme.  The formula was excellent on this one.  It practically painted itself.  Exotic Encounters was also the color I was most excited about, and it didn't disappoint!

Purr-fect Plum, 2 coats: a dark plum/berry creme.  Nothing too unique, but quite flattering.  I know this is going on my toes once fall rolls around.  The formula was good like the others.

I Herd That, 3 coats: very fine gold and orange glitter with blue and green glitters; possibly holographic.  The glitters are so fine, it's hard to tell.  I mostly get glowing blues and greens sparkling through the mass of gold and orange, but it does have a holographic glitter quality to it because of how sparkly it is.  This is one of the colors that would have escaped my radar if I hadn't had a chance to try it out myself.  The blue and green glitters really make this one for me.  I love it a lot more than I thought it would.  The formula was perfect, and it becomes relatively opaque in 2 coats.

Prey Tell, 2 coats: a vampy maroon-brown creme.  Look how shiny and squishy this is!  I found the formula to be okay.  It required some concentration on my part, just because of how dark it is.  It was a little harder to get clean rounded edges near the cuticles, and dry time was a bit slow.  I'd recommend waiting a little between coats to avoid drag.


Verdict: All the colors I've tried had excellent formulas, except for Prey Tell.  Even then I'd say that Prey Tell was one of the less finicky vampy red-browns I have tried so far.  I knew from the beginning that I was going to love Exotic Encounters, and it lived up to my expectations in both color and formula.  Also included in my list of favorites are Man Hunt and I Herd That, which turned out to be an unexpected favorite.


The China Glaze® On Safari collection will be available at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide in July 2012.  Individual polishes retail for $7 MSRP; the 6-piece sets retail for $42 MSRP. 



Liz

*The polishes reviewed in this post were sent to me for my honest review.
Please view my Disclosure Policy for more info.

Milani Spring 2012 Swatches

Hello hello. :)  Today I have for you my picks from the Milani Spring 2012 collection.  The line in general looks great, but these were the colors I was most interested in.  All the colors I reviewed had great pigmentation and consistency.  A lot of these can be one-coaters if you use a medium to thick coat.  In my swatches I used thin coats.

Beach Front, 2 coats: a dusty blue with silver shimmer that falls somewhere between periwinkle and baby blue.  My camera shows this as sky blue, but it's closer to how it looks in the bottle.

Signature Gold, 3 coats: a warm metallic gold.  This is a nice warm gold with a hint of bronze.  I like that this is not a yellow gold.  It's a tad brush strokey, but not blatantly so.  This could have been a 2 coater, but I had some issues with drag, which can be avoided with sufficient dry time between coats.

Teddy Brown, 2 coats: a light brown with warm undertones.  A very nice neutral brown.  It's light enough to wear during spring and summer.

Orchidia, 3 coats: orchid with silver shimmer.  It's surprisingly darker than I expected.  I love the silver shimmer in this.  Orchidia was also the sheerest.  It needed the third coat, but may cover well in 2 if applied in thicker coats.  Also, please excuse my uneven middle tip.  I had some peeling there and forgot to buff it out. :(  People are always asking me how my nails are so strong and healthy.  It's not always true!  I have problems with peeling now and then as well.  My best remedy for it thus far is to buff and moisturize.  Nails need moisture too! :)

Sail Away, 2 coats: a dusty indigo blue with silver shimmer.  Saved the best for last!  The silver keeps it from being too dark and makes this color glow.  Omgosh, it's so gorgeous!  In my opinion, this is definitely the star of the collection.  It's my favorite of the bunch. :)

Which color is your favorite?


Liz

*The polishes reviewed in this post were sent to me for my honest review.
Please view my Disclosure Policy for more info.

OPI Spiderman Collection - My Picks

Hey all!  Today I have two of the colors from the OPI Spiderman collection.  These were the two that interested me the most.  Check out the swatches! :)

Dr.'s REMEDY Hot Hot Hot Summer Shades Review

Hey all!

I'm back and with a great collection to review as well.  I got Dr.'s REMEDY's summer collection in the mail today and was excited to swatch them right away.  The collection consists of two cremes and three metallic polishes.

About the Company
"Dr.'s REMEDY is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic ingredients.  Enriched with naturally occurring antifungal ingredients like tea tree oil, garlic bulb extract, vitamins C and E, and wheat protein, Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Nail Polish is free from harsh toxins to promote healthier, stronger nails and the first-ever nail polish on the market approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association."

China Glaze OMG: GR8 & Friday Blog Share Idea

Here's the first OMG polish I will be showing you.  I have another one swatched, but not the others.  I'll try to swatch them as soon as the sun decides to come out again.

Picture Polish Blog Fest: Goldfinger

Hey all!

I've been waiting for this day since June, so I'm super excited to share my shade with you for piCture pOlish's Blog Fest.  Today over 60 bloggers from around the world are featuring a Picture Polish shade on their blogs.  The shade I was sent to review is Goldfinger.

OPI: Simply Smash-ing

Trixie of Nailfiled wanted to see Simply Smash-ing from my latest nail packages.  So here it is!

Sephora by OPI: If You've Got It, Haunt It

Hi all :)

This is the second polish I promised to review.  $OPI If You've Got It, Haunt It is from the limited edition 2010 Halloween collection.  It has a sheer charcoal base packed with silver micro glitter.  It also has fine black and multi-colored glitter.  The consistency of the polish is a bit gloopy because it has to hold onto all the glitter.  I used to shy away from this polish because it wouldn't come off!  But I tried out the foil-method and it just slipped off.  So now I don't mind using it. :)  The finish is rough, so if you want it to be smooth you'll have to use tons of top coat.  I personally don't mind.  I used two coats, but it was a tad bit sheer.  I would recommend two thick coats or three thin ones.

Sorry, this is the only pic I had of it alone.  So yes I re-used it from the last post.

I wanted to freshen it up the next day, so I decided to experiment with Zoya Faye.


Mostly the gold shimmer in Faye stood out, but there was still that brownish purple tint left.  I think it provided a nice contrast that is a bit more complex than what a normal gold would have given it.

This pic makes me think this would have looked amazing matte!

Indoor pic

At certain angles you can see the purple more.  It did have a bit of a reddish hue, although not as much as this picture implies.



Overall, I thought this was a nice combo.  What do you think?


Liz

Who rear ends a bus?

Hey all!  Hope you guys are having a better day than me.  I woke up with a headache today, got dressed and made it outside in time to catch my bus.  I was out early so I got a good seat and was waiting for the bus to leave, but it didn't.  Next thing you know the bus driver says he can't leave cause he just got rear-ended!  So everyone had to get off the bus, and I was confused since I didn't even feel anything.  Turns out some kid rear-ended the bus with his truck.  Question...how on earth do you rear end a stopped bus?  I mean...was it not big enough?  Anyway, I had to wait for the next one and that made me 10 mins late to class. -_-''  On top of that it's rainy and I feel nauseous in addition to the headache, so...I'm just blech. 

Negativity aside, here's my polish for today!

-edit-
Hey guys.  I wrote the above in the morning and now it's night.  I pretty much knocked out when I got back from classes and slept till now.  Feeling really nauseous so I'll just post the pic!  Enjoy your Fridays for me. :P

Very briefly: This is Hell to the No from the Glee collection by $OPI.  It's a gorgeous purple with very fine gold and copper shimmer.  The shimmer is so soft, it reminds me of suede.  I've been debating about whether I should get this or not, so when I went to grab it for a swap I decided to get it.  Not at all disappointed!

Here I added $OPI's Traffic-Stopper Copper, which is basically medium hexagonal and fine copper glitter.  I love copper, so I had to have this.  I'm absolutely in love with it.  They look like crushed pennies, and the tiny square glitters remind me of freckles, which makes me happy.

Alrighty, back to sleep.

Liz

YNOTD = Yesterday's Mani ^^

This is going to be quick!

So I put on two coats of China Glaze Techno Teal from the Tronica Collection.  I figured out how to apply it without having any drag.  I put enough polish on the brush to cover the nail and did one swipe.  For the second coat I went back and covered any spots I missed.  I did this real quick so I didn't cover the whole nail.  Dry time is really fast!  Then because I wanted my nails to be more complex, I dabbed on Zoya Faye with my brush, trying to do a gradient.  This is the result.



It looked a lot better in my head.  It wasn't much of a gradient but more like I dipped my tips in Zoya Faye.  I thought about erasing it, then decided to do one more thing to see if I could save it.  PS- Do you see the tiny bit of holo in Techno Teal on my ring and pinkie?  (Please say yes.)

Using Sinful Colors Black on Black and tape, I did a diagonal peek-a-boo look and added white streaks on my accent nail.  I still wasn't satisfied, but it got rid of the 'I have to erase this now' urge.  While I was taking pics it did grow on me.  I probably should've sponged Zoya Faye on, but I'm still not sure about this color combo.  With the black it did look better.  Oh and on the places where I did a better gradient the color changed from Teal to Indigo to Violet. 

Okay, now I'm off to study!

Liz

Zoya Faye wants some sunshine! (and some giveaways)

Hey all~

It's almost the weekend again.  Are the days flying by or what?  Yesterday I painted my nails with Zoya Faye.  It's been pretty sunny out lately, so I thought I'd take some pics after class today.  I noticed that Zoya Rica's base color was more visible in sunlight, and the shimmer looked like fire.  So I kind of regretted not getting pics of her in sunlight.  But now I know why it's called the Sunshine collection!  As luck would have it, there was not a hint of sun today.  So here are my pics of Faye indoors.  Not very happy with them, but oh well.  Hopefully, there will more sunny days soon.

Faye is a red toned purple base with a complex array of shimmers: copper, gold, orange, green, red.  The coppery gold shimmer is more dominant, but within it you can see some orange, green, and red.  I used 3 coats and application was good.  As you can see, you can see my tips.  I know I made sure to cover them, so I think that's result of shrinkage from Seche Vite. Boo :(  Drying time was a little long too.  I don't know if it was because I used 3 coats, but I accidentally crinkled one of my fingers about an hour after application.  It was like the top was dry but the inside was not.  The good thing is I was able to smooth it out, and it looked like it never happened.  I think this polish also chips a bit easily.  I don't know if that's because of the shrinkage or not.  Overall, I really love this as a color.  It's very complex and unique.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some better pics of Faye once the sun decides to come back out again. ^ ^

Milani 3D Holographic in 3D

Hope everyone's Monday is going as well as mine.  I think the most exciting part of today so far was opening my email to find out I won Body & Soul's Essie Night Cap giveaway.  I'll definitely be posting swatches of those when it gets here.  If you haven't checked out her blog yet, be sure to do that by clicking the link.  It's pretty awesome. ;)

Well, here it is! My first nail post :)  I'm sure a lot of people have blogged about this, but I had to show you how pretty 3D is.  It doesn't seem like there are that many gold holographic polishes, so I snatched this one up at my local CVS.  I believe it was around 5 dollars.  The formula is nice and this covers well.  These were all two coats and there wasn't any drag, which can be a problem with holographic polishes.

 Click these for holographic yummy-ness.

Sorry about the differently shaped nails.  I just cut my nails according to the nail bed (bad idea) and it gave me three oval and two square nails.  Currently I'm trying to grow them out a little more before I file them all into a squoval.  Which nail shape do you prefer?


Liz