Bon Voyage, 2011!

Get the party on!

Here is a layering of two of my favorite glitters for 2011: OPI Servin' Up Sparkle and Crown Me Already.
The former from Serena Williams excellent tournament related series of polishes and the latter from the Miss Universe collection - a tight four piece of pure wonderfulness.

cin cin!

The base is a unique polish: a silvery base, translucent and full of tiny glitters. Luminous, really. Plus I was a little bored using Celeb City under everything, so here is the unnamed Markwin polish from a Ross set:

BOING!!!!

A gorgeous array of large and small glitter, some hex, some platinum, and a whole lotta fabulous.

Little macro to see what is laying down.

Here you can see the holo playing around in the light.

Whoo!

This is a party manicure, for sure!


Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal! See you next year!

Big Money, Big Glitter

Sally Hansen released the Gem Crush collection and it's pretty neat.

I admit that I looked at the prices and the fact that I felt I either had it or could layer it and passed on all of them.

Except one.

Big Money.

So nice!

A taupe glitter with a gorgeous lavender glitter mixed in. It is reflective, so the darker purple is the shadow behind me, basically.

I love it so much. A really unique glitter.

:D

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Merry Christmas!

Here is some glitter on glitter action!

Orly Here Comes Trouble, a Seussian green that is four coats to get coverage.

I topped it with a couple of coats with China Glaze Party Hearty.

Excuse the frazzle!

Bottles:

Party Hearty: awesome sauce!!

Here Comes Trouble is so wonderful, but not as dense as I'd hoped. It is, however easy to apply and dried well, so layers went down well. Those dark dots are a lighting - or lack of - affect, because the polish is pretty uniformly the same green.

Merry Christmas!!!

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

The more I swatch, the more I see connections. Sugarplum Yum is no exception. 

First a little background. Sugarplum Yum and Sugarplum Yum Top Coat were released by OPI in the Victorian Holiday Collection, but I don't know the year.

Sugarplum Yum is related to Orly Fantasea. No! YES!! It is a darker purple jelly base, not that warm sunset glow, but appears to have the same burnished bronzy pink shimmer.

I won't go down the "dupe" road, but they are cousins, it is the base which makes the difference.

Some pix of SPY alone:

This is three coats and I feel like it was rather sheer. Perhaps some lingerie in a blue leaning medium purple? It did bubble a tiny bit too.

Pretty gorgeous shimmer, indeed. Perhaps I need to do a comp over black to bring out the shimmer and compare them, file under reblog!

Here is the piece de resistance! The sugary glitter top coat!

Very sugary and tiny. Of course you can really see how sheer the SPY actually is, but the holo payoff of the topcoat is splendid.

Here is the bottle shot:

You can see how blue the base is, but the pink/bronze shimmer shows up very well.

I believe I found these on eBay, but really can't recall. It's been a while!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal! May sugar plums dance in your dreams!

Lunaful

China Glaze Luna.

Yes, the perfect union of a sheer metallic - previously thought of as impossible in my book - and large holo glitters.

Wowsa!

I have a mixed bag of lighting, trying to show how this polish lays it down, but perhaps it's easier to say that there is no topcoat and it is what it is.

Though it doesn't show up well in these photos, it is a pale blue metallic with a medium sized holo round glitter and some smaller silver glitter mixed in. Even without a topcoat, it really shines!

There is quite a bit of texture, which is a bit of a bummer, and while I will say that the first coat is probably hidden, so it feels like a waste. Also it dented a bit, too. I only see that in the editing, so I am guessing it has a little longer to dry than even I thought.



The next day I had a cloudy day, but wanted to show how actually translucent the base is:

Quite nice. Even what looks like a lump did catch some light and impart glitter. That is the fun part of this polish.



I reswatched it using Maybelline's Silver Aluminum as "lingerie" and used two coats of Luna.

I think I like it this way best: less texture, but perhaps the fullest effect of the glitter without losing out on all that lovely holo glitter on a first coat. I feel like a topcoat would smooth it down and it would be fantastic for a New Year's Eve event.

Of all 50 of the China Glaze Glitters, this one is very unique. I recommend one or two coats over a metallic silver base, more satisfaction!

Thanks for reading my glitter nail polish journal!

Glitter or Foil?

A while back, when I was having a masterful jones for Dazzled by Gold by OPI, I wanted to see if I could find something similar. I confess I have a lot of gold because of that search, but in the end I got DBG.
But. DBG isn't what this post is about. In fact, if you scroll down and expect to be seeing Dazzled by Gold, stop now, for I have the very opposite of it: a bottle of gold foil that is as beater as a Chevy Nova driven by 4 teenage sons as they ascend the driving age ladder, and just about as stinky.

Super Professional is the name. The number is 138. I found it on eBay from a seller out of China, I think the now much touted "Born Pretty Store."

Truth in packaging isn't quite the forte of Super Professional! The lid is a printing mishap, the bottle is a dead on dupe of OPI and the back even has "3 Free" printed on the back in what can only generously called a printing error. Open it up and the only thing I can say is that it's 3 FULL and perhaps even some other suspect solvents in the mix.

Oh, but that foil! Killlah!!! Three coats, not horrible dry time, but not what I'd call fast.

Wow!
I love this stanky polish!!! Wickedly wonderful. 14 carats on my tips!

I have not run across this polish on eBay in a while, the closest thing I occasionally see that is similar in packaging is called "Dearlee", and even then not this color.

Now, it probably has a half life, but it also has a second life, that of a glittery topcoat!

Whaaaaaa???? So nice! All that yellow seems to vanish into a cool gold that is very neutral and quite a fantastic top coat.

Loveliness! This us why it's under the "month o' glitters"!

Thanks for reading my little nail journal!

On Mosaics and Facets

Revlon, I doff my hat to you, Sirs/Madams.

You are coming out with so many versions of upscale polishes it's keeping my head turning.

A couple of examples coming right up!

Facets of Fuchsia

Here is the breakdown from left to right

• Two coats over WetnWild Black Creme
• Three coats alone
• One coat over WetnWild Black Creme
• One coat alone

I think my favorite is a couple of coats over black, since the base is a black jelly that is somewhat sheer and a bit murky when you get to the last coat. I figured showing one coat alone would help illustrate the nature of the polish. It's a bit sparse, perhaps a healthier dose of large hex glitters would assist the smaller ones. Beautiful combination.
I think if you layer it over WetnWild's Purple Potion or China Glaze's Mummy May I, blogged here, you might have quite a combo!



Blue Mosaic

Same as above:

• Two coats over China Glaze Adore
• Three coats alone
• One coat over China Glaze Adore
• One coat alone

Excuse the lack of focus on my index finger on the left! 

Yes, quite the bomb over a chrome type of finish. 

With no base, even with three coats, it's a wee bit sparse. The main thing missing is more hex glitter! Ack! One coat gets a scant three hexes. 

I can't think of another polish that I have that would work as a co-glitter-conspirator, but any holo/silver would probably be pretty zingy. A kelly green as well. You can see the bottle looks tantalizingly full of kelly green hex glitter, but I wish there was more.

Alright, I will still say job well done, Revlon!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish glitter journal!

Gift of Gold and a Cheap Knock Off?

Yes, I did manage to find OPI's Gift of Gold on Ebay before it became rather expensive.

What is it? A gorgeous burnished gold glitter with rich warm red glitter interspersed. This was from the Ulta 2010 Holi-daze collection. A top notch gold glitter that pleases me to no end.

Such a lovely shade of gold glitter!

I have three coats on and coverage is excellent. I also found it easy to use. The color is so rich it reminds me of 18 karat jewelry.  The accent glitter, I think, makes this polish particularly special.



So, what about this cheap knock off? Well, it's not a cheap knock off, but a polish that existed in my collection before the Ulta exclusive OPI came out: SinfulColor's All About You (I just realized that Sinful Colors is all one word! SinfulColors!!! This means I need to update all my tags!)

What is it? I really love this polish, too! It's a burnished gold glassy particle gold with orange/red glassy particles in a golden jelly base.

What is wonderful is that it's a similar color and concept, but not an opaque glitter. The finish is softer, more foil-like, and it is more transparent.

I have four coats here and it probably could use a couple more. Be aware, though that over the right yellow gold glitter, this could be great. I really think it's worth a side by side:

The similarities work to enhance All About You as a contender for a nice layering coat.

IF you want to spend $25-30 on eBay for Gift of Gold, great, but if you want the effect, find some inexpensive warm yellow glitter (Sinful's Paris comes to mind) and layer SinfulColor's All About You on it and you will have a strong similar effect.

Not dismissing Gift of Gold, it is a stellar polish. I can think of few golds that impart that jewelry feeling on my nails as much as this one. I used to live in Saudi and visiting the gold souk was always a pleasure!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Katwalking

Yes, I, too, succumbed to the excitement of Walmartland getting Nicole By OPI Kardashian Kollection.

When I got to WML I sprinted over to the nail/beauty aisle and found nothing! Shock! One sales clerk and two managers later, they pointed me to the Christmas department (well, duh! right? sure, I was going to know that! Notsomuch).

There they were, all of them untouched. How odd.

I picked up Kendall on the Katwalk because of all the awesome swatches by the bloggers who get samples to swatch and the dedicated bloggers who buy entire collections (you go!) I was only interested in one polish: The one with green, blue, and purple glitter.

YES!!

What it is: A trippple play of green purple and blue glitter in a blue jelly base. Perfectly balanced to look like the depths of the ocean or heart of the cosmos.

Three coats and really decent coverage. The coolest part is that the green isn't some mediocre blue tinted green it's a real green, same with the purple and the blue is a watery cool blue. It appears the blue is multi-sized.

Macro love.

I can see why OPI waited to release this with the K Kollection because when I went back to Walmartland a few weeks later, there were only three bottles of the chocolate brown polish left in the sale bin.

I think this would have been amazing for Stranger Tide's Mermaid Tears, but what the hell, they did it and it's a great polish. Completely unlike anything else I've got.

You know I got a back up, because I just had to. I wish I'd gotten three for a give away. I feel like a bum!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Glitter Vixen! Part 2

Hello again!

First a little rehash:

I didn't want to make this a straight up glitter, so I picked some base colors that were similar and to show it as a layering polish.
Each of those is one or two coats. The glitter alone is 3-4, yes, a bit much. I will say it's not a super dense glitter, especially things like the blue and purple.

Each photo from left to right:
Index and Ring fingers have a base with glitter over it.
Middle and Pinkie fingers have glitter alone, layered in about three coats.

Let's get the party started!




Art of Seduction

A mix of small and regular size glitter. I used a base of Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Perfect Cherry, found at Dollar Tree as a byproduct of being in a two pack with something else I wanted. Not bad, perfect red.

For some reason every photo showed a golden glimmer, like the polish had gold glitter, but it doesn't. The above photo shows the glitter better.

I also grabbed a shot of the polish without a topcoat:

You can see that it isn't a smooth finish, but not a hugely textured one, so one coat of a topcoat will take care of it. Still, wants to impart gold flashes, must be the glitter. Cool!



Sexy Siren

Blue, blue, blue.

This one seems to have more uniform glitter, although with the clear base in these, you can see a bit of patchiness.

I put it over Essie's Shelter Island, I realize I don't have a lot of cremes this shade. Hmmm...a metric shiteload of deep purples, but few bright, aqua/medium blues. Why? It's a universally flattering shade.

These look like they are multi-colored blues, but they play with the light, which is so nice.
Great glitter.



Object of Envy

Kelly green glitter!

I grabbed Sally Hansen's Green Going as the base here. Another great Kelly Green!

Such a foil-y glitter, too. Same concept: small and large.



Tru Passion

A light purple glitter, so I used Diamond Cosmetic's Pelican Peak Purple.

This one has a bit of holographic glitter mixed in, and it's pretty hard to see here, but on my ring finger you can see some other colors as well as on the index finger.

Another beautiful glitter! 

Not much more to say, this one was the same in a lot of my photos. I think, if you really want holo over your other glitters, use a topcoat like Cover Girl City Lights or China Glaze Fairy Dust to add that sparkle, I feel like it's hard to see it in this polish. Why they only added it to the purple, I don't know, though. Odd.

That's it! I have had this set for a while now, found it at Ross and really have wanted to swatch it for ages, finally getting it done! All of the glitters are wonderful, I personally love the clear base to let a base you are layering it over come through.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Glitter Vixen! Part 1

Here is the Color Club set that is a must have for your glitter basics. Hits all the great colors, works alone or layers beautifully, and is highly affordable, even if you buy the bottles at an etailer.

Many photos, so here goes.

First, some basics.

I did want to make this a little different than straight up glitter so I picked a base color that was similar and showed it as a layering polish.

Each one is one, perhaps two layers, but the glitter alone is three, perhaps four. Yeah, I went crazy. I know.

So, in each photo from left to right:
Index and Ring fingers have a base color with one or two coats

Middle and Pinkie fingers have the glitter alone, layered in about three coats.

Sexy Symbol

I call this a platinum silver: bright, white metal not just silver.

I used Sally Hansen's Celeb City as the base

As you can see the glitter alone has a bit more of a textural look, although I think over Celeb City it looks really quite beautiful, too.

What is the nature of this polish? Platinum white silver with normal and small sized glitter in a clear base. The beauty of all of these is the clear base, great for layering and leaving the base that you use to shine through.

Magic Attraction

Perhaps one of the most underrated holo glitters. 

I used OPI DS Coronation for this one, and I will say it really made little difference: Magic Attraction holds it's own!

Not much more to say here, holo tastiness in all it's glory. 

Sultry Diva

A gold with a real yellow feel to it. Not neutral and I fought lobster fingers and lost.

I used Diva gold as the base, it was the most similar gold. 

Ok, that's part one! I had to break it up because it is just so photo heavy! :D

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!