Nubs and Vampitude

With the shortest nails I've had in a while, I am reminded of how often I read that vampy shades are "great for nubs!!!!"

Well, they may be great, but when your nails are completely nonexistent, a deep color, flooded cuticles and hassle of cleanup in a small space made it pretty challenging.

This is one of the most frustrating swatchfests and yet one of the most dam-breaking when it comes to dupes. 

Yes, I have a lot of these.

Too many. 

Here are eight that I wanted to blog about.

Some consistencies:

- all three coats

- all are reddish vamps, not purple vamps

- no top coats

Elle Elle/LDL 209

This is from back in 2009 or 2010 in packs of 9.

Has a silvery shimmer that is very subtle, not enough to make this either a shimmer or a frost, but a creme with a secret shimmer.

A little bit loose-y, but not bad. Love the bottles and removable lids. 

Good luck finding this one. It's my fave of the lot and I am sure there is a real dupe in a more well known line of polish. 

Sally Hansen Black Currant Creme

When I purchased this it was in a two pack at the Dollar Tree and as solid as a rock. I revived it, but it's evaporated once again, and even after a ton of thinner, it was pretty gloop-y.

More warm, more of a maroon base. 

NYC Lincoln Center. 

Loose, rather dark. Very much the glossy finish. Would make a great jelly franken.

I think it's supposed to be a copy of OPI Lincoln Park After Dark.

Nice!

Essie Berry Hard.

These were at Ross. Not sure I like this formula at all. I look like I slopped it on then tried to clean up. I really tried to keep it neat!

Bit more red.

Borghese Sonata Berry.

Not bad. Not bad at all!

Found at TJ Maxx or Ross. Glad I grabbed it.

NYC 225.

This is from the Dollar Tree. Apparently NYC had a "Glossies" line. These are crellies, jellies and sheer shimmers from my collection that I'd found at the Dollar Tree when they showed up.

Not bad, a little bit of a challenge, but not crazy-making!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Flirt.

Bit slow to dry, like all Sally is on me.

Very nice color. I found this at the Dollar Tree. Not a super fan of the formula, it was a fight to the finish.

I am not sure if I won or not.

L'Oreal Stroke of Midnight.

Great formula. Hard to fault. 

This might be discontinued.

To be honest there is no L'Oreal display at my drug store for polishes any more, all I ever see are seasonal displays. This one was on sale, I accidentally purchased a back up, but for it's shade, it's a nice color formula.

On the whole, I'm not a huge vamp fan. Only because they usually look dark. They also emphasize the shortness of my nails.

Honestly, I'd just prefer a nude until I get a decent length on to enjoy the whole process.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!