Blues You Can Use

Here are three blues that I like a lot, but have strengths and weaknesses to varying degrees.

Colorwise: all strengths. Weaknesses: I'm not a "brand snob" but sometimes brands let themselves down with lack of details, as you will see.

I am still learning the ol' Sony A6000, I apologize in advance. 

SinfulColors Love Thy Self

This is from the Pride collection. It's a beautiful periwinkle that pulls a bit more lavender in real life.

This is darker and more blue than their Lavender, and quite lovely.

The brush, though, was pretty janked up: it's all uneven and wide at the end. I will have to rebottle it down the pike.

This is probably available through SC in some iteration or another. I'll be honest I have mixed feelings: price point is good, but hit or miss with formula or brush. 

Claire's No Name blue

This is a really a bad picture, jebus. Three coats, no top coat.

This is a pretty deep blurple that borders on cobalt. I love this color, but have a few trepidations: it's a patchy, balding mofo. I mean it needed three coats. Coat one was alarming. By coat three I felt it was workable.

Drying to a nice wax finish it is a pretty shade. I don't hit Claire's very often so I don't know if this one is around any more. I know they change things up fairly often, so I can only say if you are near one, take a peek.

Diamond Cosmetics Not Your "Hum Drum" Plum

Three coats and possibly the only thing I can say is a flaw is that it's discontinued. Wah.

This is a beautiful plummy blue. Though it's more blue in this photo, it does run blue than purple.

Love how shiny it dries.

I have to say that this was one of the worst photos I've ever published. So sorry.

Might be able to find this on eBay. 

Thanks for your patience with my photos. 

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Blue Shimmer Semi-Dupe, Dupe-y, Or Some Such

Quick post!

Claire's Tranquil
Confetti Blue Bombshell
Claire's Tranquil
Confetti Blue Bombshell

All three coats over black.

I think Tranquil is a touch darker, but if you have one, you probably don't need the other.

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Calmly Bobbing Along Atop A Wave Of Blue

In the realm of blue, I have little bias.

I see blue, I want it. Green, too, pretty much falls into that category.

While picking up a glitter at Claire's I saw this beautiful rich blue shimmer called Tranquil.

I put it on alone and almost cried.

Suuuuper sheer. This is four, possibly five coats. I don't mind multi-coaters, but this really never picked up as much depth as it needed to really call it a a stand-alone.

Plus it's pretty blah, medium blue tending a little aqua.


Tried it over black, WnW black.

Finally it looks like it does in the bottle, however a bit darker, which is a treat.

This is two coats.

Yeah, no clean-up, I know. Revoke my blogger membership card! ;D


Finally I added SH Sea and Be Seen.

SH Sea and Be Seen is a gorgeous layering blue. It's been panned as too sheer, but really pops over other colors. This came out in the same Tracy Reese collection as Hidden Treasure.

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Bedazzled Toned Down

Here is a little sandwiching I tried with a couple of pretty el cheap-o polishes.

I was going to call this blog "Faux Lippman" but felt that I was better serving the polish by talking about the glitter.

Here is the result:

I was kind of surprised by this!

I didn't do clean up, and I've been losing millimeter by millimeter of my nails through work, but this is an older picture and I really love how the glitter is kind of summery/spring like.

What it is:

Claire's Bedazzled sandwiched between old Sally Hansen Salon Sweet Creams.
This has been slightly diluted, but be assured it's sheer.

I use Sweet Creams as a base when I have sheer polishes and want a fairly unstained base. It's sheer, but covers enough.

Bedazzled is a nice multicolor glitter, lots of silver, but a lot of warm colors thrown in like aqua and orange.

When the nude goes over the silver, it turns white.

Kind of nice!

I love it!

I kind of want more multi glitter to do this kind of layering.

Nice!
:D
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Glitter MashUp Part 2: Blue

First the result:

A clear bright blue, scattered with darker blue.

The base is Claire's Blue Skies.

Here it is with no "lingerie."

It is a sheer  aqua blue jelly with holographic glitter both small and large as well as some iridescent/translucent glitter.

With a nude base that is a jelly but reduces the stains.

Definitely with lingerie or unstained nails this is gorgeous. I love it, but I confess I thought it would be more dense and when I grabbed it I thought it would be a thicker base. Still, very nice! I think it would be great over Orly Snowcone or another bright blue.

Next up, Sally Hansen Magnet. This is an oldie, as was 3-D, that was in a first Dollar Tree Supah Score. I kind of wish I'd hit another motherlode like that!!! Indeed, I look back now at the polishes I left hanging on the peg and kind of wonder why.

But I digress...

A bright cerulean blue jelly with silvery blue square glitter and hex holo glitter. Sheer, two coats here, it is born to layer.

Finally the Revlon glitter, Galaxy. Sparse, yes, but the dark blue really is kind of a cool thing.

Dark blue, with some silver and a bit of larger holo hex tossed into the mix.

I won't rehash the sparseness, but suffice to say, I feel that this could have more glitter per mL.

A recap of the mashup:

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Claire's Try at Dupes

Let's be honest, hype is hype. Hype is also fun.

When Orly came out with their revolutionary Cosmic FX collection heads turned. Then heads kept turning toward all the brands that kept coming out with dupes, or at least the same basic polishes.
I wonder at the company that made those special little polymer glassy glitter particles with all their color changing properties and their smarty-pants marketing.

Well, as usual I ponder arenas that I have no privy to.

Meanwhile, MAC, as we know, came out with their Disney-branded Venomous Villains. Soon thereafter Claires came out with some very similar polishes! I have more on "Mean and Green" (aka Orly Space Cadet and Hard Candy Beetle), but for now I just grabbed the blue and the red, because as much as I enjoy MAC packaging, I wasn't going to get into a sweat over it. Some people collect Disneyana, but I don't.

OK, to the Claires.

First up is Claire's Poison Apple, which is a supposed dupe of MAC Bad Fairy.

The problem with me of all people calling "dupe" when I don't have the original to compare it to, is, well, the problem! I did use All Lacquered Up's blog entry as a peek, and they really aren't dupes at all. This one is definitely darker, warmer and less foil-y.

This is three coats.

Perhaps the density of the glitter particles is less? The lack of a brighter particle? I will say the MAC is richer, more berry tinged and brighter.

This polish is more like OPI Designer Series Perfection's deeper cousin.

So, perhaps there is something to the whole MAC thing. You never know!


Up next is Claire's answer to MAC's Formidable!, Evil Queen.

In the MAC polish Formidable! The glitter has a duochromosity that is quite stellar. I've seen it in the Vampy Varnish blog go from blue to purple to even some teal! Win!

Three coats, by the way!

This seems to have a blue and a purple glassy glitter and perhaps not enough.

Here is the bottle:

No shift, just blue and some demure purple flash. Not feeling it on the nail though.

So I pulled out my Revlon Glimmer Gloss Grape Shimmer:

This is a strong blue glassy particle that is in a pale plummy purple jelly. The base is invisible unless you layer THE HECK out of it over white, and even then, it's a challenge!

I added two coats:

Now you get that blue flash.

I think I could poke around my "glassy top coat" collection and find something with a range of colors. I could also layer a dose of L.A. Girl Punk over it, but I really am not sure about getting the range I saw on Vampy Varnish's page.

In essence the only one that is really close, by comparing photos, is MAC's Mean and Green and Orly's Space Cadet. Though, further research reveals that Orly is probably the one to go to for the dupes of this, and not Claire's. So, can we just say Orly Cosmic FX for the win on dupes? I think that Claire's tried, but swung and missed.

Price point-wise: Orly was hanging their shingle out at $10 a bottle, MAC $13, and Claire's 2 for $6.
Now Orly seems to be more affordable, MAC was a LE and now is in the $20 and up range on eBay (unless you get lucky!), and I don't see the Claire's store carrying them any longer, though eBay has them at a slight mark up.

There you go. What I know about these polishes, not a lot, but hope this round up helps you if you passed on the hot MAC release or even the Orly. Personally, I kind of regret not picking up more of the Orly, hunting pale dupes is not as rewarding when you get into the bang for the buck category!

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Dreamcatching

 Is a mint a spring or a summer or a winter polish? I think it's timeless.

There is something about mint that strikes a chord in me, perhaps it's my blind spot. I have nearly 1/2 a helmer drawer full of them, including some multiples.

It is said that Claire's Dreamcatcher nail polish is a pretty good dupe of Chanel 407, aka Jade. I don't know, it's highly probably that I will never afford it, but that's ok, because there are a lot of pretty mints that are just as fabulous, in my humble estimation!

I took this one and added a coat of Sally Hansen Quick Silver Frost top coat, the pale silver sheen that just adds that layer of misty cold morning makes me thing of winter, as does the sprinkling of glitter.

There is something restful about green. I read that in the old days they would paint kitchens that color to keep women from getting hysterical.
Aren't you glad you live in the new days where women aren't condescended to by men who haven't got a clue what it is to be a woman?
I know I am!!

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