Green...Finally

Without a computer at home, and the learning curve of lighting for my new camera, greens are slow off the starting blog, er, block, this year.

I'm in it to win it, though!

Here's a glitter combo: Hard Candy Sweet Pea topped with Cover Girl Crystal Mist

Sweet Pea is sponge applied. Note to self: paint some latex protection on your skin, will ya? It took a lot of acetone with the brush to pry off the glitter. Doh!

This took about 3-4 sponges to get a very nice density. 

Painting it with coats of polish would have never reached this kind of coverage without a thick load of base. 

I've not used this technique for a long time and it didn't pan out, so I didn't bother. This went very well, with the exception of the excess glitter, so I will be trying it again on some other polishes.

Hard Candy Sweet Pea is a plain chartreuse metallic glitter. 

I added my favorite green/blue iridescent polish, Crystal Mist and that's the bright blue pops you see in the photo.

Both of these are discontinued, however eBay might reveal some love. I would check out indies, too, to see if someone is throwing down a chartreuse glitter. You never know!

Nice to start off with a fresh, yellow-green that reminds me of budding daffodils.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal.

Feeling Swatchy: Five Valentine Shades

Let's just jump in....shall we? The water's fine.

Hard Candy Pretty in Punk

Three coats, no top coat.

I love this kind of pink, though I will add that the formula is more like a jelly or a crelly and yet I get good coverage in three coats. There was a time when three coats was the norm, but I get a vibe that people only want one or two. This one will sandwich over other things such as glitter and glass fleck very well.

This came from a large eBay purchase of some job lotted Hard Candy polishes. Still available online.

Milani Raspberry Fusion

Found this at the Dollar Tree. Since it was packed with glass fleck, I thought I'd see how it all played out. Both photos are taken with flash, it brought out the color very well.

Top photo: three coats, no top coat. It's sheer and it doesn't seem to build with a lot of enthusiasm.

Bottom photo: one coat over navy blue. Wow!! Super Topper!! Don your cape, and leap from high buildings, you topper hero, you!!

Still online, for those of you who are seeking a pink topper with a lot of KAPOW!




L'Oreal Seductive

More flash photography! This is three coats of L'Oreal's Steel Colour line, which, judging by the spelling of "color" to the British "colour", I am guessing for a foreign market. I have a number of these and they are absolutely beautiful shades.

I found this, along with the rest, at the Dollar Tree, and wish I had more. They are so odd, yet so nice: smallish bottles (9mL) and great formulae.

Though you can see some nail line in the photo, in real life, there is complete coverage. Like Hard Candy Pretty in Punk, this has crelly quality. Yummy!



Milani Tropical Fiesta

Oooh, Aaaah. Pink corals are high on my list of favorite colors to wear. Three coats, no top coat and a delightful glossy finish.
This is a traditional creme with that intense color payoff that verges on neon. Though some folks might call this neon - I've seen lesser colors called neon - this really isn't, just packed with gorgeous coral wallop!
Found at Dollar Tree and I was quite pleasantly surprised by this one. Easy to still find online, too!



Orly no name matte red

Here's the final entry. A matte red I found at TJ Maxx. No name label and none of my research yielded much in the way of information.
This is a matte has a bit of texture, but nothing like a true texture. I can't seem to figure out the story behind it. I wondered if it was magnetic, too, but nothing.

Top photo is matte and the bottom is with a top coat. I like that it has a red base, but a pink shimmer very much present, but not overpowering.

I can't really find it online, but if anyone knows the name of this, I'd love to know!


Hope you enjoyed the Valentine shades!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Ring In Good Cheer

I am kind of a Christmas dork.

I love old movies, I love Christmas trees, I adore colored lights, and I really like snow on Christmas day.

I am old enough to recall those big outdoor christmas lights glowing red and green.

Here are a pair of red and green polishes that needed a blogging.


Hard Candy Envy

Three coats, two coats would be fine.

This is very dark. Yet, it didn't take a ton of work to bring out the shimmer. It's not a completely blackened polish, but it does have a black base.

It's a taste issue. I love CND NFS because the shimmer is dark and because the base is the same shade, so you've got darkness, but it's just gorgeous. I feel like black is a bit of a cheat.

From that big Hard Candy lot I purchased awhile ago. I think they are easily found online.

Here it is mattified:

That ring is gigantic on my tiny hand. Eep!

Matteified, it's just gorgeous.

NYC matte top coat. I am seeing some NYC displays pulled, so I don't know how much longer this will be available for me, but there are many good matte top coats out there. I think this one give sit a waxy feel, but I believe that is because the green shimmer is so fine and the black is so strong. Still you get the glowing green in black.



Maybelline Express Finish Jewels n Berries

A russet tinged cranberry red, if you will.

Three coats, but two would be fine. I felt like the brush was a bit of a challenge, but not because of size. My pinkie looks like it got "nailed" for lack of a better word.

Why the "n", I don't know.

I found this at the Ol' Dollar Tree. Quelle surprise!

Still online.

Mattified:

Such a win mattified.

Again with the NYC matte top coat. I only used one coat, but two might have been a wee bit better.

There is really nothing like a glowing red matte. Whatever the finish. Scrumptious!


Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

Glitters of the Purple Variety

A pair of glitters that I've been wanting to swatch.

Milani Lavender

A purple and blue/purple glitter mix in a clear base. Sadly, the suspension base would not jibe with my white polish I wore below. This is two coats and I think it's a perfect topper as it isn't really dense enough to work as a full coverage glitter polish.

Unfortunately I couldn't make my formula much of a win, and I think a sponge application would only dent the white and make it muddy.

As much as I adore Milani's regular polishes and find it very hard to fault their formula, the glitter polishes are not working out the way I'd hoped. I have a number of these and as I swatch the ones in a suspension base I discover this melting characteristic. And even if I try it out over a rock-hard-three-day-old-manicure it still just reacts and rewets the base. Frustrating.


This is available at the Dollar Tree, though it can vary with inventory, etc.



Hard Candy Hot Pants

Two coats.

I like the pale violet mauve base. Also instead of a holographic glitter, it's got a pretty iridescent metallic glitter. Pretty, delicate, and subtle.

I think putting this over a soft rose pink or a soft mauve would be pretty spectacular.

I found this one a very workable formula and no playing around with it melting the polish below.

This was part of that big Hard Candy purchase I made on eBay, it's still all over eBay, too.


Thanks so much for reading my little nail polish journal!

Get Your Glitter On

Here are a pair of glitters that catch the eye.

Made for a night out because they catch the light and are gorgeous.

I tried them over a navy, with mixed success, to show what their bones are.

Hard Candy Fabuluxe

Uniform glitters and a pretty hot pink that is a bit textured without a topcoat.
I've done two coats here.

I purchased this on eBay in a big Hard Candy Lot.


Maybelline Fuschsia Fling

If there is one thing I love is a color that is made up of other colors. Composed of a purple and a red glitter it just is a love.

This is two coats and no top coat. Pretty smooth finish without the top coat.

Long discontinued Dollar Tree gold cap, I was going to unload this, but ended up keeping it after trying it out.

It's such a win.


Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

The Perfect Vamp

You know that vamps are not my total thing.

I enjoy them every now and then, but often it's such a neutral that is basically a black, it's hard to get worked up over them.

Here's a nice surprise:

Hard Candy Rumor Mill

Glossy two coats, no top coat.

Almost a one coater. Nice.

Easy formula, I had some shaky brush application, so I had to clean up, but really, a beautiful shade that really makes me rethink my other vamps.

I don't keep close tabs on Hard Candy, but this is from a big eBay lot I'm going through these days and to be honest I almost put it straight into the purge pile. Now it's a huge favorite.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

The Heart of the Fire

So, glass fleck. It seems to be an ongoing theme for me. I love this finish. The shimmer payoff is quite high compared to the more fine-particle ones that seemed to predominate before.

I have two stellar gems that are just heavenly.

Hard Candy Lava

Older Hard Candy found on eBay in a large lot. 

This photo is with a flash, and although the quality isn't super tight, it captures the deep red orange shade and intense glass fleck. I know that I didn't expect this polish to have such oomph. If you like color, as I do, you will enjoy this. This shade is remarkable. It's gorgeous.

Two coats, no top coat, much win.

Colors By Llarowe Shot Through The Heart

Awhile ago I did a post about a Revlon polish called Rose Ablaze, blogged here.

I love rose shades. This is no different.

Beautiful rose pink that leans a bit coral thanks to the mass of gold fleck in the mix It can look more orange in the bottle, but once on the nail it shows more of a rose shade.

This photo is taken with a flash and I think it cools down a bit with my flash, but of all the photos I took, this really shows the glass fleck off the best.

It's such a win. I am not sure when it came out, but I am so glad I found it. I think it was a limited edition, but beyond that, I can't recall. Meanwhile, it's unmatched.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Hard Candy Sky

Though I don't follow Hard Candy very closely, I do recall they made a big change in their polishes a few years ago. Dumped a bunch of standard shades and rehashed them with a bunch of glitter/creme combos derived right out of the indie playbook. They also changed the bottles to a tube thing

I found a huge set of job lotted older Hard Candy's on eBay and picked them up for quite cheaply. Heres one that I love a lot.

Hard Candy Sky

Sky is a super pale blue that leans more into an "ice" shade than a pastel. Better still it harbors a rich secret shimmer that is both delightful and hard to photograph.

I have three coats here over a nude. It's not the most perfect formula: no self leveling, and definitely needs three coats, but the shimmer/creme combination is right on target. 

I heard that they were doing some sort of re-issue of these shades as limited editions and their website shows locations, but not polishes. These are, per some simple research, their earlier versions than the plentitude of job lotted stuff you can find on eBay. I don't know if the version I have is identical to the original, but it doesn't matter, it stands alone on its own merit.

As I said in my last paragraph, there is a ton of Hard Candy still on eBay and if you missed any of these, that could be a good resource. Probably Amazon, too.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Beaded Gowns and Train Stations

The fact that I am a total Golden Age of Movies fan hasn't been much discussed on this blog. The direct, overarching vision that many studio heads, great directors, and producers had really holds up by comparison to many "made by comittee" movies I see today.
There is one movie that really holds the torch for utterly perfect 1940's movies, it's Now Voyager.

I adore the costumes, pre "New Look" economic cuts and elegant details.

Bette Davis plays maiden aunt Charlotte who is verbally abused by her mother and well meaning family, but finds respite with Claude Rains' character, Doctor Jaquith, who builds up her self esteem against years of pummeling.
The before and after is worthy of any of today's "makeover" shows.

She takes a sea voyage and meets a man with an absent wife, who, in true Edward Rochester style, he can't divorce. Yet. He can not contain his love for Charlotte 2.0.
Quelle tragique!

In one scene Charlotte wears a beaded gown that is pretty divine - she's just been to a party and rekindled her old feelings and her current escort feels like a pale substitute. She sends him home and in the half light of the room the dress scintillates in the darkness, light toying with us like the pulsing of her heart as she plans to meet her true love at the train station (enter Dr. Freud) to say one last good bye. This moment is so fabulous, brought to us by cinematographer Sol Polito, that I recommend the movie for this very reason alone. Yeah it's great, but those studio guys killed with lighting because they had so much practice and no digital post to tweak the heck out of a mediocre job.


Here is a photo of the dress, she is ready to leave for dinner with Mr. Blah:

Even in brighter lighting Polito manages to make those beads in this Orry-Kelly gown dance.

I couldn't find the movie on TCM, nor could I find the exact clip, but I wanted to emulate the beading on nude. Though it looks white, white did not photogragh well, so I m quite sure it's not white.

I chose Sally Hansen Cafe au Lait from the CSM line, which I've also cut with a bit of white for some brightness. Not a huge fan of the formula, but for now it serves its purpose.

Here are some gilded glitters that remind me of this dress:

Studio M Fast Play  - 2 coats. I do recall reading somewhere that Color Club makes Studio M, but bottle doesn't mention Forsyth or Cosmetic Arts. Who knows. The unyielding mystery abounds.
Delicious iridescent glitter that is translucent enough to remind me of opalescent beading.
Shimmery.
I purchased this through Body and Soul website, I don't get M Studio out here, and I don't see it online anywhere, though I don't really look hard for it, I will admit!
I love this polish!


Mattese Elite J'Taime

Two coats, combination of iridescent gilded glitter with some larger pieces. Two coats. Very dense.
Love this polish a lot.
Found at Ricky's NYC online, when I was last there they had a ton of ME, but now only six bottles and some are out of stock. Plus no other evidence of online presence. Why? Is it dying?

There was an OPI near dupe of Mad as a Hatter that drove me to the site, I wish there were more around, there is a lot to love from this brand. Ah well. As an aside I was in the Dollar Tree today and saw a bottle of Milani Cappuccino: totally a better version of Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, but who knows about it? No one, because Milani's swatches and marketing were ho hum at best. OPI has one of the most boring fall collections coming up and over the next four months people will be chattering about it, even though it is about as original as a box of Rice-A-Roni. End digression!



Finally here is Hard Candy Break Up

Divine iridescence: gold and purple and larger glitter hexes. The best part of this polish is that it has a smattering of very small iridescent glitter as well, fabulous!! Enlarge! Enjoy!
Two coats.
I will say that these are gone for good in a retail setting, but abound on the 'bay. I love Hard Candy's formula and aesthetic.



So on a warm summer evening in a beaded dress that catches the light, nude nails can do the same.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Gold Shimmer + Purple = Compfest!!

Although it seems like I'm in a mode to compare a lot of stuff, I'm really mostly catching up on a lot of older polishes I've not really gotten around to blogging.

So, what do these guys have to do with each other?

They carry the same color DNA. It's kind of neat. Three are siblings, two are fraternal twins, one's a cousin and another's so distant you could practice endogamy with it! (Just taking the familial metaphor to it's Python-esque absurd conclusion)

It's a quick and dirty skittle shot, so beware!!!

Arabian Night, not Nights, doh!

Here, under the lamp, the family photo reveals itself.

All are three coats, no top coat and just about the same amount of "pretty darn workable quick dry time" except Opulent Cloud.

I don't know if you all remember, but when Sally Hansen release Opulent Cloud, the crowd went wild. It was in a collection of HD polishes that changed two times that I am aware of, then was discontinued. Frankly I have to wonder why? Some great polishes came out of that HD stuff.
Opulent Cloud is a cousin, but the shimmer is a fine one, unlike the trio at the center. It shifts from a deeper purple with gold shimmer to a flat cool bronze in some light.
Mercy!!

Hard Candy Mr. Wrong. Oh. So. Right! Rich purple fleck, rich almost flake gold. I openly confess that I am so glad I grabbed a back up of this one. Win!

Alter Ego, from Color Club's Alter Ego collection was recently blogged here and I did have wear issues. I haven't worn it again, so I hope it was just a bad combo of base and top coat. Eep.
Of the three fleck versions of this color, it's the most muted.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Gala was a limited edition polish last year or the year before, bummer, it would be a great asset to the SH Xtreme line.

Finally Sally Hanse Salon Arabian Night, this came out either before I started collecting or just after and it's always been on the short list of "must own". A grape purple with enough golden oomph to fill the glass fleck bill, but still retaining a bulk of the gorgeous purple base. Woot!
It's a 2008 Tracy Reese collaboration, which yielded this stellar polish. Top 10 color in my opinion.

Another lamp shot:

Formula-wise:

Opulent Cloud was slow to dry and I even smudged it a bit, argh.
The rest were great.


Some daylight:

I took this the following morning.

You can see that the Opulent Cloud gave me a case of sheet marks. Sheet.
The others reveal their fleck-tastic-ness in the side light.
Mr. Wrong and Purple Gala have a similar warm gold, but Purple Gala - ring finger - has a deeper base.
Poor Arabian Night, he needs an outing, he's so awesome over there!

Here's a close-up of the center three, Mr. Wrong, Alter Ego, and Purple Gala:

Dupes, no. Similar? Yes.
Mr.Wrong feels the most golden, Alter Ego is more purple and Purple Gala is the best balance of the three, with intensity in the purple matching the gold.

I personally recommend Purple Gala of the three.


Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!!

Defiance

Yes, I defy you to name the difference between these dupes:

Another round of the MAC Venomous Villain's dupes. Neither are MAC, judging by the photos that I've seen on the bloggers that do new products, this is the best of the three.

Which one though is Hard Candy's Beetle and which one is Orly's Space Cadet?

I defy you to actually see a difference, I don't.

What we have is:

So from left to right on the nails:
Orly Space Cadet
Hard Candy Beetle

Orly Space Cadet

Hard Candy Beetle

This must have been a fail-proof bit of an ingredient, because it really does just kick ass and take names.

I love Space Cadet, I paid $7 plus shipping, making it near about $9 a bottle. Hard Candy was on sale for $4, so that boils down to Hard Candy being a tiny bit cheaper. 

Formula wise? I really can not discern a massive difference at all. I'd love to be able to say one is far better than the other, but sometimes formula can be a personal chemistry thing. In general, they are super similar.

Accessibility might be the governing issue, plus if you only need 10mL of a nail polish versus 18mL, then you might find it just as easy to grab a bottle at Walmart! 

Thus ends my half-baked attempt at dupes of MAC Venomous Villains! :D

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Second Annual Go Air Yer Bra! Greens For March!

Old jokes never die, they just get less chuckles.

I am going to do the same thing I did last year: March will be a month of greens.

For a start, since it's a blizzard when I write this, and the prospect of spring is far away I will start with a dark shimmer.

Hard Candy's Envy:

A truly beautiful shimmer. Dark and mysterious in a black base, it is packed with shimmer punch.

These are, as are all my winter photos, taken with a double light set-up. I've been tweaking my lighting all the time, and I am thinking I am near the perfect low-budget product lighting set up.

The formula is quite nice and I'm trying a new thing out: when I am going to swatch, I will put on a few coats and wear it without top coat for a day or so to see how hearty the polish is under wear and tear. This isn't too bad, I feel that in a lot of ways I am especially hard, since I'm out in the weather with my horse. This didn't fair as bad as some others. We'll see how this idea pans out.

Meanwhile, this polish wore pretty well.

It is glorious in the bright sunshine, which we had the day after I shot these photos. I could not replicate this, and flash would blow it out completely.

So, indoors, very understated, but in sunshine, it's very beautiful.


Bottle shot, because you can see how dark it is, yet at the top is the shimmer punch:

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!