The Not So New Neutral

I don't often pick up WetnWild polishes these days, but I did see this one and was enamored with it's subtle grace.

WetnWild Bite the Bullet

Three coats, no top coat. Though I think two coats would work just fine.

I love this little mauve delight. Though you can see I over applied on the index on the left, it really was easy to work with. 

I often think drugstore polishes have the hardest row to hoe since they often have to perform in less than perfect conditions.

Still available at your drug store!

Color Club Give Me a Hint

From the Color Club Alter Ego collection, this guy has been underutilized. It's a pretty little mousy mauve that has been on the "oh I don't need this" pile a few times. Only to be pulled back because the color is just amazing. 

Still on the Color Club site, so still available! It's a classic, very cool toned, but feeling autumnal at the same time.

American Apparel Dynasty

This is a bit more pink than it is in real life, but it is very subtle and extremely beautiful.

The formula, well, super nice. 

Here's a comparison

Left to right:

American Apparel Dynasty

Color Club Give Me a Hint

WetnWild Bite the Bullet

Truly a trio worth having!

Of ocurs if you can only get one, get the American Apparel. You can see how smooth and luxe it looks when done. I am using a Milani ridge filler, which is pretty nice, and it serves to smooth things out, the AA really takes it to the next level.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Mauve Pinks

Here are a pair that I haven't worn in a long time and when I took this photo my nails were nice and long.

I think a mauve pink creme is so pretty and ladylike.

I think I blogged these before, but needed a little bit of a redo.

Here's Essie Neo Whimsical

It's one of my favorites from the Essie Art of Spring collection from about 2010.

It's a three coater for sure and was pretty a soft lavender rose creme.

I feel like I need a teacup and a crumpet when I wear it.

Not hard to find online, which is good. It's a soft mauve staple.



Orly Lollipop

A bit more coverage and a bit more of lavender leaning. Three coats again.

Pretty easy to find online, too!

Of the two, I definitely recommend the Orly. Better formula and for the price you get more polish!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Revlon Metallics

Four Revlon Brilliant Strength metallics up for you today.

I have to admit, I have been pretty excited about this post. It's taken a while to get everything organized, but it's here.

I'd found a few more of the Revlon Brilliant Strength polishes at the Ol' Dollar Tree and wanted to flex their muscles as stamping polishes as I gathered them in. Mostly a win with one that isn't quite up to the task, no matter.

I will also show photos of the stamping plates, since I think it will help you see the plates a bit better.

The plates are all from Bundle Monster's Spring Buffet collection and I have to admit it's a collection that keeps on turning it out.

Revlon Magnetize

A beautiful burnished platine that stands out more as a stamping polish than a chrome, however it is a very unique chrome shade.
I recently found a back up at the Dollar Tree and was glad to find it: excellent stamping polish.

Three coats on the accent nail, though two would do. These are at the Dollar Tree, and I don't see anything in Revlon's current line up to match up with this color.

I used Bundle Monster BM-722, with a very sweet design.

Revlon Captivate

A molten harvest orange that stamps a GORGEOUS bright copper metallic shade. This is my holy grail copper stamping polish. Heavenly!

Again, found at Dollar Tree and easily found online. LOVE.

If you stamp, if you want a true copper, then you need this puppy. It looks good as a chrome/metallic shimmer, but as a stamping polish, it is very unique.

Used BM-723. I think it managed the thick pattern very well.

Revlon Enrapture

I chose a favorite of mine, L'Oreal Future Rose as my base for stamping and it came out very close, so it was hard to get a good look at the stamping.

This polish, to me, does double duty. I find this shade of muted, dusty rose chrome/metallic shimmer quite beautiful. Neutral, yet on point with the spate of "nudes" that are popping up in cosmetics these days. Yet as a stamping polish, it does make its presence known, despite my monochromatic choice.

BM-702 has a more delicate pattern, but it all came through rather well. In case you are wondering, I did the vines on the right side.

Revlon Hypnotize

This is a fairly generic gold shimmer that doesn't translate as a stamping polish. I am trying to let it evaporate a little bit and will update if I find that it does work out. Right now, just not enough coverage to get enthusiastic about it.

BM-703 is a charming little plate and I used the curly-cues in the upper left corner. 

Finally I goofed around with a process that I saw on Youtube, where you put colors on a matte or a plate and mush them up with your stamper. Interesting!
I used everything except Enrapture over Magnetize...

Although I am not sure if it's 100% success without a topcoat, I feel like it's a fun alternative to water marbling, this was easy: slap on some liquid latex over my fingers and splodge away. Plus I don't waste sponges: the stamper cleans up with the the adhesive lint roller. Win!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Old Marsala Here To Stay

I almost got rid of this polish before I tried it on....

This photo was taken with my iPhone.

This is Essie Munis Mauve. 

Long before they had embossed bottles and their caps had that eponymous "E" they had, apparently a bland little square bottle and a plain white cap.

A very pre-"Free 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7" polish, this puppy reeks of old school chemistry.

It also goes on easily, smooths out beautifully and tip-toes around fussy dry time like Jerry tip-toed around Tom to get at the cheese.

I slapped this over a very lovely manicure while at work (sinner!) and two coats rendered the shade below invisible, and also into a dang fine base coat.

The color, when googled ranges from a dusty rose to a subtle berry, so I don't know if mine has had pigment aging issues, but I love this polish a lot.

I honestly won't be able to parse the difference between mauve and marsala, but I'll just go there and say "puce" people! PUCE!

I just had to get that in there. Of course the color trend makers couldn't use Puce as color of the year because it's just not got a savory history. Just read The Flea by John Donne and you get a flavor for what I'm talking about.

Meanwhile if anyone knows what collection this was from, I'd love to know. 

I found this on a blog sale and was intrigued by it, also I found it on Nail Supplies for an affordable price. Since this isn't on Essie's site, I'm guessing it's an old bottle.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Dusty Rose

Here's a dusty rose that is from New York Color. It's called 231, for some reason they don't put names on them. If I was going to name this I'd call it Snow on My Toes Rose. I don't know why, but I would!

I've got a lot of these, and my problem is that they come with other things when I get a pack at the Dollar Tree or in a group of polishes at Ross, they are that obligatory color that ranges from terra cotta to mauve, muted, dusty, a subtle understated color that is a good basic. Sort of like a black cardigan in your wardrobe: not fancy bling-bling, not gym clothes, just regular stuff.

This is three coats, there is a bit of a shimmer, but I call it a creme, but I'm not really good with these semi-something-or-the-other finishes.
It dried satin-like, and it dried pretty well. I think two coats would do fine, and for a no-brainer "don't want my polish to be the topic of conversation" type of polish, for 50 cents, who can complain!?

I love the silver shimmer, I also like the way it looks on my hands. To be honest, these dusty roses tend to make my hands look a little "dingy" and that's no fun.

I also love my cuticles. Hey, what can I say? There are days when it looks like I've spent all morning digging for root vegetables, then there are moments when it comes together. Yay!

Thanks for reading my journal!!

Enchantingly Enchanted by L.A. Girl Nail Polish

I wanted to sit down and do a few entries that I will upload over the course of the week.

I think this is the best way to do it, I'm taking four classes that require a bunch of reading. My cuticles are a mess, it's dry out, then it rains, and I'm just having a little whine!

Products I like, so far:
Earth Therapeutics makes a little butter thing. I found it at Ross, it's amazing stuff! I also have some nearly identical formulated Sally Hansen foot butter. Both have shea butter in them. I hope this will help my cuticles. They are a fright.

This manicure is courtesy of L.A. Girl.
I am not really 100% familiar with this line.
They have some polishes that are in round bottles and some in funky shaped bottles. These are different lines like "Rock Star" and "Disco". So the one I have here is from their regular line, perhaps these are in salons. (Actually I've seen a Sally Beauty one that had the same bottle and identical formula to the round one, but with another name. So there's another case of confusion, too)

First we have the standard manicure shot:

This has been worn, and there is some chippage on the one finger. Lately I've been dinging my fingers right after I've done a manicure. I need to slow down.

Here's a comparison of the bottles:

Orly Fantasea and L.A. Girl Enchanting.

I think they are duplicates. Which of which, I don't know

 

It's a beautiful blue-ish purple base and this metallic pinkish copper below. The crazy thing is that when it's on it's a bit sheer, which might be the L.A. Girl formula, or just the nature of it, so you add layers. When you add layers you get this metal-under-glass look to the polish, with a bit of duochrome.

I do love it!

Thanks for browsing by!