Quintet of Reds

I love red, I've mentioned before that red seems to be that one color that just doesn't quite register super subtle differences to my eye. Let's just say I have to work harder to see them. Although that whole dress thing? I guess I have taken enough under-exposed photos in tungsten/fluorescent light and saw what it was: a blue dress.  Enough memes, let's get started.

Here are 5 neutral reds, more or less, with a variety of finishes. 

All are three coats, all are without topcoats.

Let's go!

Maybelline Showstopper Scarlet

A cool toned, almost ruby red shimmer.

I've had this for well over 5 years, but I've passed over it many times but it is a very beautiful red. It's a dollar tree purchase.

Currently available on eBay. Easy formula, and surprisingly quick to dry, I didn't expect it. 

The shimmer in this looks like it's got a frosty top note that I wouldn't call a full frost, just a shimmer with some lighter dimension. This may not be to everyone's flavor, but I think it brightens it up quite a bit. Feels like a fresh, late winter and longing for spring kind of red.

Sally Hansen Hollywood Scarlet

I will admit that my very old Sally Hansen Salon reds are pretty ignored. It seems like I gathered up quite a number. I like this one, but you can see from the bottle that a white layer has formed along the bottom. I think this would be more dense, less of a crelly with all of the ingredients properly mixed (sorry, I'm not buying one of those shakers) and more of a standard creme.

But.

I love the translucency that is produced by this and probably will let it just be.

It does look like a scarlet, but not too warmish, though it doesn't play cool on me, that's for sure.

It's on eBay, so not impossible to find. Kind of a juicy little polish. Glad it didn't get purged in a fit of pique.

OPI Thanks So Muchness

From the very tight, epic, and wonderful OPI Alice in Wonderland Collection.

Three coats, a bit loose, but not bad.

I got this on eBay, along with the whole collection before it became completely unaffordable as a collection. You can get the reds very easily, though the color, I believe is a discontinued one. (OPI's site doesn't seem to have a search feature)

This red is quite neutral, to me. Not a berry at all. What is really cool, though is that it is loaded with a pink micro-glitter, that almost looks more like a micro flake. The base is a fine shimmer, which doesn't compete with the pink accent. Very subtle. A shimmer with a hidden micro-flake. 

I think it is a bit more rich and luminous than I captured in this photo. Beautiful, intense red shimmer is masterfully done.

OPI Crimson Carol

I can't recall where I found this, but it's discontinued and apparently hard to find. I know I didn't pay current eBay prices, but somehow I have two bottles. 

It is from OPI 2009, I must have purchased online somewhere, then ran across another somewhere else. Nail Polish Purchase Amnesia. Ack!

I will say that I am so glad I got it, it's a favorite! It reminds me of a much more dense RBL Lotus Elise. There is that pink, amber, and purple glass fleck in a red jelly base. This polish has a silvery kind of glass fleck shimmer that also plays with the beautiful depths. I tried very hard to to show the purple, pink and amber. So nice. 

Expensive and hard to find. Eep.

Elizabeth Arden Camden Pepperberry

One of those polishes I have been wanting for a long, long, long, long, long time. Finally found it on eBay for less than $10 shipped, I snapped it up.

Simple by today's glass-fleck-gold-fleck-jelly-this-complexity-that kind of polishes that are out there.

It's a love, and I love it.

Rich jelly red knocking at the burgundy door loaded with gold glass fleck that looks like smoldering embers.

Don't know when this came out, but I love the square bottle that just fits such an sophisticated vibe that these names evoke. 

Yay!

Right, that finishes up my reds for now, I have a lot more that need to see the light of the blog.

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!