Green-o-Rama

A little comparison of two greens, mainly because I feel like they are similar, inasmuch as they sit next to each other in the Helmer drawer!
All are three coats, all are taken with a lamp.

Maybelline Colorama Jaded

Yes, I did clean up! Yay!!

A tropical green with enough shimmer to knock you back on your heels. This is under a lamp, and it appears to have a bubble, which is a bit of a bummer, but I think my fault.

Though three coats, some faint visible nail line you can see around the edges of the finger on the right (ring finger).

An easy to use formula that benefited from some clean up, though.


I tried it over black:

The yellow has been dowsed and this very tropical green now seems to be the star of the show. Brushstrokes are more evident, but there is a bit more green, now. I love this color, alone or over the black polish, it really has its own personality.



Then I pulled out a new addition to the stable, NYX Luscious Green.

In this photo it is a pure green, not really any yellow in the sense of shimmer, but yellow undertones.

Another photo:

Oh! Here ya go! Much more intense, I feel like I've landed in the tropics and the sun is beating down on my head! Where's the sunblock!

I was told by a kind person on the nail board that this is a close dupe of the famously difficult to find China Glaze Moonpool. I can't tell, from what I can see, the Colorama seems to hit the yellow nail on the head a bit more, well, it makes a try. Hard to say without a comparison!

I did compare the two, though!

A classic case of their differences illustrating their strengths and similarities.

Both have yellow, on different degrees, both have a beautiful shimmer, Luscious Green feels like the shadow of Jaded in some forestry fantasy world made up of nail polish swatches.
Related, and yet, independent.
If there is a Moon Pool dupe out there, this is probably as close as I am going to get, unless I layer Jade over Luscious Green.

No pix, I just thought of that while I was blogging!
:D

Bottles...

"You are luscious!"                                     "You look jaded!"

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Last Day To Enter!

Don't forget!

And thanks for following! Even if you unsub after the contest, I appreciate you coming along for the ride for a while!
:D

If you are a blogger and don't see your name on the side bar under Blog-o-rama, please add your blog in the comments below. This entry only, please. I want to make sure I follow.
You can email me, too, if you'd prefer.

I will try to follow as many as I can and import them into the blogroll.

Thanks all!
:D

Typhoon in the Pacific

Here in the Pacific Northwest, there are no typhoons. There also isn't any Brucci!

Typhoon Lagoon is a duochrome legend.

I ordered this bottle through Body and Soul Beauty blog. Fabulous blog!

Finally got around to getting it tried out!

What was I waiting for??

I put it over a nude base coat, as it was somewhat sheer. I currently used Sally Hansen "Sweet Creams" because the name is too hilarious and I can't stop using it, but it is a sheer jelly itself which only seems to "right size" the old stains. Nudes are another post altogether!

Three coats.

At first glance it looks like Sally Hansen's Grape Going.

Then you turn your hand a bit...

Wow!!!
Total orchid takeover!!! So perfect!!!


I tried it over light blue, I think this is Modern Grace, I was wearing the heck out of it, but I'm not sure!

Pulls it down a bit, softens the shimmer and releases the pink into the mix.

Lovely!!

A beautiful polish, nice formula and I'm really hoping that I can find more of these!!

Previous Give Away Winners...A Saga and News...

Ladies, I first will admit I possess some procrastination tendencies.

Then I got an eye infection and the flu. I had a short term job that turned out to rival my days as a working student at a large training/instruction barn and my immune system flatlined. The worst part was that I've lost my birds and a cat due to my massive error. Suffice to say, that I am still in shock, and there is a steaming pile that has a higher ego on pet stewardship that I have right now.
Gah!

Your packages are going out tomorrow, finally. Many apologies.

You are not forgotten.

If there are any issues with any polishes when they arrive, let me know, too, I will move heaven and earth to replace items.

OK.

Back to your regularly scheduled blog.

Thank you!!
Truly a great bunch. I appreciate your patience!!!

Franken: Dirty Rotten Shimmer

Ah, to franken!

I love it!

I say this over and over, but there is a charge out of mixing things up and seeing what happens. When I'm in the kitchen, it's fun, but you may not be able to eat it! (I made marinara that ended up like a goulash, not so good)

Misa's Dirty Sexy Money is the stuff of legends. Dusty, mid-toned green that leans over into the teal family enough to dip it's toe in and enjoy the water, but, it remains green.

Here ya go:

Indeedy! Three coats of a stand out shade. Universally flattering, but still green!

More!

What is not to love? No topcoat, but plenty of shininess! Win!

I had to say that one thing was missing: I wanted a shimmer version. Dubious at the idea of trying to up Misa, I only wanted to find a complement to such a color.

I did use a Maybelline eyeshadow called Sea Glass. I can not recall much of the rest of the recipe. Greens, yellows, blues, and some gray. It was a very slow process, drop by drop.

This has been around for over a year and I keep putting it off. I've been tweaking it like crazy, trying to make the formula work.

Let's do it, bottle shot:

Close, but perhaps a scintilla too grey and yellow. The shimmer pop, though, I love.

The formula, ah yes well, the color is pretty decent, but the formula has been a frustration.

Alone, it never dried. Layering: it would slide off over every base polish, eating it alive. If I tried a quick dry topcoat it would dry on top to a clear plastic sheen, leaving, perhaps the worst part, a mushy mess of base coat color below! So much fail going on at every turn.

I think I finally added more clear polish, because, in my humble supposition, the ingredients in the eyeshadow were not allowing the bonds to form in the polish base, interfering with it's ability to get dry, or even release the volatile chemicals that are the solvents, sigh. Perhaps it's the talc or zinc stearate that might have been in the shadow.

No love, baby, no love at all.

Theory aside, too sheer, won't dry, and eats the base coat still are plenty alive and well.


Here it is over Misa's Dirty Sexy Money, one coat:

Pretty as a picture, but a Dirty Rotten Scoundrel to use!

Monday morning quarterback moment: I do know that I tend to over-pigment my frankens, so perhaps it is enough that I did this and leave it as a top coat, perhaps adding more clear base, instead of adding more pigmented polishes, trying to balance those entailed a detailed lab report, and I haven't written one in a while.

There you have it, a bold franken fail, but man, the shimmer, the color, the...the...let it go. Can't pump up the volume on an amp with a broken dial.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal.

Another Sheer Gets Its Groove Back

I received Confetti Blue Bombshell in a swap package. Great blue!

When I put it on, four coats later, I had this:

Whaaat? Perhaps worse than the sheer-factor, were the bubbles. Yes, you can enlarge it to see how many there are.



So, I cracked out my bottle of WetnWild Black Creme, two coats later...

One coat of Confetti Blue Bombshell and you get some groove on.

Pow! Pop!

Cue the music: I believe in miracles, you sexy thing, you sexy thing you!

Really redeemed this polish. At first I thought it was going to do the rounds in the donation box, but a black base created a monster of a shimmer in a deeper, richer blue.

Get down on it!

All right, stale disco references and all...

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Lavender Comps: Part 3

Here is the round up!

First a quick rehash of the contenders:


H and M Temptress, aka, "Make Mine Secret Shimmer"

E.L.F. Lilac, aka, "Gray Down and Die"

Diamond Cosmetic's Pelican Peak Purple, aka, "Purple Mountain Majesty"

Sparitual Thunder Road, aka "Strap Your Hands Across These Engines!"

On to the comps:


Sunshine:

Left to right:
DC Pelican Peak Purple
Sparitual Thunder Road
E.L.F. Lilac
H and M Temptress.
You can see three of these things belong together, one of these things doesn't belong here, can you guess which one? (hee hee!)
In a lot of ways DC PPP and SR TR have a lot in common, though, I feel as though the former is a wee bet glossier and as I look at it, I am kind of feeling like I love it a little more. It could be my "ridge-y ring finger" but I it's hard to say.
Temptress, you shimmer bomb! Love ya!


Shade:

Left to right:

DC Pelican Peak Purple

Sparitual Thunder Road

E.L.F. Lilac

H and M Temptress.

As you can see they really all look pretty decent in the shade, even the E.L.F. Lilac, but in truth, Sparitual holds the intensity a skosh more. H and M washes out, DC PPP turns a bit blue, but not bad really.  Temptress looks good, though a little demure, and I think would go more gray in tungsten light.

Though, to the E.L.F.'s merit, it would be a great base for frankening, or if you wanted to make it go down the jelly path, it would be perfect. I made a jelly out of E.L.F. dark red and it's pretty fabulous. 

Last shot, bottles:

Left to right:

DC Pelican Peak Purple

Sparitual Thunder Road

E.L.F. Lilac

H and M Temptress.

Would I call any of them dupes? I don't know, I think DC and SR are pretty darn close. If I had one and not the other, I'd pass on the other. Whatever that other was. Ha! I don't even think I understand what I just wrote!
:D

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Lavender Comps: Part 2

More Lavender Love!

Let's do it!

Diamond Cosmetics Pelican Peak Purple

A glossy light purple, that feels, to me, closest to the lavender that grows outside in my yard. Blue inspired, but still purple.
Gorgeous three coats of glossy goodness, easy to handle formula and quite A-OK on the dry time. Nifty!

Pretty square bottles, too!



Sparitual Thunder Road

Color-wise, a favorite!
Why? Intense pigment, beautiful formula and such a perfect lavender. Not too red, not too blue. The finish is a bit less glossy without a topcoat.
One tiny bubble section, but I attribute that to my application.

Thunder Road, what an unusual name for a soft polish. I immediately think of Bruce Springsteen's second (best!) album.

I also like the way it remains wonderfully NOT grey in the shade.

Sunshine

Shade

Still not gray or blue, still has a gorgeous intensity.

Just  because I need to do clean-up and this is a reminder how great this would have looked had I done it! GAH!

Last installment will have a comp!

More sooner than you think!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Lavender Comps: Part 1

Perhaps this should be a springtime post, but it is not.

Here is a three-parter on some lavenders that I have a hunch are all related, though not dupes by any stretch of the imagination.

Onward!

H and M Temptress

A beautiful color, leaning into the red pool, pulling out a couple of drops and saying: Don't mistake me for a blue, people!

Three coats. Easy formula, dried beautifully.

Best of all, a pale shimmer that seems invisible in the bottle:

This was given to me by a super generous swapper. Love you to bits, I was honored to do this swap!!

Perfection, except I couldn't get the lid off of the brush handle so it was a bit of a careful moment on my pinkie finger.

I have one other color by this brand, wow, love it!



E.L.F. Lilac

A dusty, soft lavender, that they call Lilac. We have lilacs like crazy out here and I've never seen one look this unhealthy.
It is glossy, three-coater, and has a "jelly implication", that perhaps now is called "sorbet". Reminiscent of Orly Bon Bon, but more of a lavender than an actual gray. Perhaps a reblog and a comp are in order.
I did like the formula, but not really sure if it is a color I can carry well. It doesn't have the pop/intensity of the H&M. So, perhaps a skin tone with more blue undertones could work this baby out?

Ok, more soon! (as in next post! Keep your eyes peeled! :D)

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

A Blue Redemption

Borghese, Borghese, Borghese!

Thank you for Capriccio Blue!

I think I love you?

Remember that little spat we just had?

Time for some makeup...er...application.

Dreamy, creamy, heavenly, milky, light blue.

Faint whiff of Wedgwood blue, the soft, diluted intensity, and the quiet poetry of a late summer afternoon.

Shiny with no topcoat, you can see the gold reflection of the bottle labeling on my ring finger.

Three coats, easy formula, quick to dry.

Another photo, for some reason my camera popped the intensity up a bit and it looks brighter. The first photo is really more close to how it appears in real life.

Odd, because both photos are with the same lamps.

You can see the grey though, still, with it's softening affect. Quite a sweet blue. I like blue, too! (Bollywood movie quote!)

This was on sale for 50% off at my Rite Aid, so $4. I can't complain, I had my eye on this bottle the whole time it was out, but none of them really ever sold, except the purple. Odd.

Sweetness and light! Om Shanti Om!

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

Lemon Aid?

Borghese, Borghese, Borghese!

Why don't you pigment your polishes?

Witness:

Four coats of Limoncello.

A yellow shimmer that, on the first coat, could act as a clear base coat.

I wasn't in the mood to resuscitate it with a black base. No, I felt that I would have a faintly yellow shimmer top coat. Why am I posting this at all? (should that be a tag? hmmmm) because if you see this, and you want yellow, go with a creme base like Sinful Unicorn as a base if you actually want yellow shimmer. I like yellow, This on is fairly soft, but not enough pigment.

Right now I am a bit miffed that I even paid $1.99 for this. I've got a Melmer drawer full of base coats and top coats and treatments, I'm not in the market for more.

I think this needs a reblog. I probably got a bit frustrated by the fourth coat and saw that it was not building and then it was bubbling.
I don't throw things, but this was a candidate!

So, if see this, and you need a cheap base coat, win. If, however, you seek a yellow shimmer, run away from this! And the normal full price is $8! Eight Dollars! EIGHT!!! Optimistic that this is an eight dollar polish on a good day.

Screed over!

Thank you for reading my little screed-y nail polish journal!

CND: Hot Days, Cool Nights

I have a pair of CND, or Creative Nail Design, layering combos I want to share.

CND generously sent me some polishes to review! Yay!

*stumbles around blushing and honored and excited all at once*

Let's get busy!

First up

The perfect coral for any skintone. Balanced just right, not too pink, not too orange.

I have three coats here, and I think it did need three, though the formula was very easy to work with, looking at my pinky, you can see that I didn't do clean up and it really wasn't loosy goosy or heavy. I love this shade of coral for summer: oomph but not neon or too bright. Never dusty, but somewhat demure.

I wanted to catch the sun - it's a late hot summer here - so I added Crimson Sparkle:

A rosy golden top coat that I really love. Glassy particle greatness!

What was even more fun, was that even with my small hands, I could fit the bottle between my fingers and stay outside in the sunshine and apply the top coat. Little demo below:

You can see a bit of the green flash in this top coat, too!




Next, CND Sapphire Sparkle over CND Asphalt Oilslick (sorry, should have jotted it down!!!!):

Wow.
No, really.

Crazy wonderful duochrome.

Asphalt Oilslick is a rich black, a definite two coat, but a very nice formula that was easy to work with.

It was very easy to play with this one, too:

Shifting to purple, and showing it's blue range from royal to icy blue.

You know how I love a duochrome!

This one delivers!

I like the way it gives ample coverage in one topcoat, the black is there, but one coat fills the bill and the glassy particle greatness easily gives up it's charming color change.


Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal.

This product was sent for me for review.

Layering L'Oreal Party Hop

Party Hop, by L'Oreal, appears to be part of their disappearing line at my local drug stores.

Since Essie is now under the same parent company umbrella as L'Oreal, the only L'Oreal I've seen have been special editions like the summer collection I blogged about here.

There is a fall edition out, pretty stuff, but I am not feeling the neutrals they have put out, though there is a blackened green called Mystery that I want to franken a copy of. I've not many of their polishes, however, the greatness of Caught Red Handed, can not be understated.
Here is link to that post.

Back to Party Hop!

Though, for some reason the name Hip Hop stuck, so you'll laugh later on!

Sheer, glassy particle goodness. Three coats, though, I could have gone four, but indeed, the direction of this polish isn't really to be a soloist, it is born to be in a duo.



Here is Essie Lilacism:

Three coats, Essie's fab formula on me, and that blue leaning lavender that shifts in different lighting (sunlight, more blue, tungsten light pulls out the red making it more pink)
Divine!


Here it is with Party Hop, two coats of Party Hop, that is:

Essie Lilacism is the perfect base for this!  Though you can see the base through two coats, it lends an air of "glassy foil" to the finish, instead of "sheer glassy particles".



Onward!


Meet Diamond Cosmetic's Crushed Velvet:

Three coats, though, perhaps, two, I can not recall. Note to self: take notes!
Glossy finish with a pretty amazing "two dollah" formula. In fact, you can see me in the ring finger peeking over the top of my camera! No topcoat!
SHINE!
I need to compare this to the famed OPI Sapphire in the Snow, which is another blog post for another day! :D
p.s. I need to believe that I can do clean up, because I often mess up manicures trying, plus my biggest excuse is that I show how the formula works. Hehe...denial.


Meanwhile, let's examine Party Hop over it:

One coat, it adds the "party" to the Crushed Velvet, that's for sure!


Macro:

Glassy goodness!!!


Here is the bottle shot of those last two:

Titling fail?

I love square bottles. 

Though why I didn't do an Essie bottle shot, I don't know!

There you go! Hip...er...Party Hop by L'Oreal! A layering polish with some lovely legs!

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

Revlon Modern Grace vs. Orly Cashmere Cardigan

Really not a "versus" because both colors are in the tippy top of my favorite blues.

Both are completely beautiful, though a shade different.

Tremulous blues, perhaps you can guess which is which?

If not, left to right:

• Orly Cashmere Cardigan
• Revlon Top Speed Modern Grace
• Orly Cashmere Cardigan
• Revlon Top Speed Modern Grace

Taken indoors under a pair of daylight corrected lamps. 

Sunlight, same order.

My camera corrected for the brilliant blue sunlight by adding a shade of red to the photo. I can't complain, it is the closer of the two photos, in my estimation.

They are both gorgeous colors. 

Modern Grace is the deeper of the two.  

Bottle shot:

In truth if you only get one, it isn't the end of the world. Both formulas are wonderful. I used to hate on Revlon - a lot - until I found the Top Speed line and had some good luck with cremes. The jury is still out on shimmers.

In some ways, Revlon seems to be catching onto trends. Of late they are hitting it hard. Though I haven't been paying close attention, they were hot with Street Wear, but when I first paid attention to polish again, it was pretty dull sedate colors. Now it's a bunch of special editions loaded with punch! 

Orly, well, fabulousness! It keeps on giving with new collections that knock my socks right into next week. 

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!