SUNDAY SPAM!

Lay It On Me - Vegas - I think I did a pretty job of getting the streaks to show this time. They actually looked better in real life.

Zoya - Yasmeen

China Glaze - Sugar High

China Glaze - Light As Air

Nubar - Peacock Feathers - What an unbelievable duochrome

Zoya - Ginessa

Moodstruck - I can't stand that these don't have names!!! This polish is sooooo damn pretty. It is one of the prettiest polishes I have ever put on. It got compliments everywhere. But sadly, it doesn't change colors :c( There is maybe a itty, bitty change, but not enough to deem it a mood polish.

CQ - Pearls

Sally Hansen - Lacey Lilac

OPI - Radiance + OPI - Turquoise Shatter - This cracked the best on my thumb. I did a thicker coat and I like it much better than the rest of my fingers.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!
:c)
-Elaine

Teenage Dream - The Katy Perry Collection by OPI

OPI has teamed up with Katy Perry to create a collection of 4 glittery shades this winter. Katy Perry is a nail icon so it makes sense to collaborate with her! To complement the shades in the collection, OPI has also released a crackle top coat: whole lotta fun!

Teenage Dream - Semi sheer pink base full of large hexagon holographic glitter and pink micro glitter. This is three coats and I think it does a decent job building up. You could wear it like this, however I prefer it layered.

Not Like The Movies - My favorite of this collection! This is a steel metallic with a green/purple duochrome and little, itty-bitty silver flaky pieces in it.

Last Friday Night - Sheer blue with bright blue shimmer and iridescent hexagon pieces flashing red, blue and green. This one is definitely one to be layered. It looks pretty much identical to Sinful Colors - Hottie which I used layered for this mani.

The One That Got Away - This is a super rich, magenta berry with glass-fleck shimmer. This doesn't have quite as much sparkle as OPI - Let Me Entertain You from the Burlesque collection which I expected it to look just like, but it's beautiful in its own right.

Black Shatter - Shown over The One That Got Away - This is the best thing since sliced bread! I have been having a whole lot of fun with this one. You have to apply this over dry polish. It works best that way. If you ever used the old Cover Girl - Crackles from the 90's you'll remember they had to be applied over wet polish and they took forever to dry/crack. Black Shatter cracks quickly and gives a more uniform look. I am a big fan.

So overall, cool collection. It has everything. Holo, iridescent, duochrome, glitter, shimmer, and crackle! The Katy Perry Collection is out now!
What do you think!?
-Elaine
:c)

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

MAC - Bad Fairy

I know we've all seen this already but I love it! I didn't get the other two in the Venomous Villains Collection because they were dupes to Orly Cosmic FX shades, but Bad Fairy enticed me. And damn MAC for making limited edition stuff super limited so it makes me panic and run to buy!

Bad Fairy is really pretty. It is a strawberry-red with duochrome shimmer that is copper at the edges and at angles. The polish has a near-foil finish and is flashy, but not so much I felt I couldn't wear it to work. Really cool. Too bad it took 3-4 coats, but I love it. Glad I took the plunge and ran to my Macy's MAC counter to snag one of the last bottles.

If you like Bad Fairy run before it's too late. This sold out on the website super fast (as cool LE polishes from MAC usually do)

New Sinful Colors - Spring 2010

I think I have a Sinful Colors addiction . As soon as I knew Sinful Colors had released new shades I was on a hunt. I planned my routes every chance I got to get to a Walgreen's and snag the newbies. Well my hunting paid off and over the weekend I struck gold. I have a bunch of swatches of new colors and oh boy I am excited about them. First off, most of them...are... GREEN! YES! :cD Second, they are super pigmented and go on in two coats, definitely. No sheer babies here. Check out these hotties>>

Happy Ending - This name is just adorable. I can't help but feel all fuzzy from it! But the color is fierce! It is so not what I would expect from the name. This is a mega-bright, nearly-neon, lime green shimmer. It stopped my heart when I got it on. This swatch is two coats.

Easy Going - Awesome, bold, stark, baby pink, creme. This looks nearly white, but with a hint of pink. Not the same as Sally Hansen - Lavender Cloud's hint of purple though I think this looks obviously pink. The formula is thick, but manageable. Not thin and streaky, needing several coats. I got it on in two coats and it was smooth without a topcoat.

Innocent - Another awesome, ironic name. This does not look innocent. This is a bright, bizarre, very yellow, light green. The formula is again thick, but manageable and very pigmented. It was very close to being a one coater. This swatch is two coats.

Mint Apple - What is it with mint apples? I know I did actually find them on the internet, but it is still strange to me. Anyway, Mint Apple is a pale minty, jade shade that is very blue-sided and shimmery. This swatch is two coats. Before I saw this in person I thought this would be close to being a Chanel - Jade dupe, but it is far from it. I do not actually own Jade, but apparently Dream Catcher from Claire's is pretty close so I did a comparison of Mint Apple against Dream Catcher:

Mint Apple is on the left and Dream Catcher is on the right. Mint Apple is clearly darker and bluer. With all the mints we have available I am really close to being minted-out, but this is not comparable to any of the mints I have. Awesome.

Rise and Shine - What a cheery name! There should be an exclamation point at the end. "Rise and Shine!" Much better. This is a bold, bright, shamrock green shimmer. This swatch is two coats. It reminded me of China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover as I put it on, but FLC is a creme (no shimmer) and it is more green, where Rise and Shine(!) is more blue.

Soul Mate - This is a rose pink creme with peachy undertones. This shade is very pretty and conservative, but not boring. I really like this shade. And guess what? This smooth, pigmented formula allowed me to do only one coat for this swatch.

Tapping Nails - Holy Moly! This is H-O-T-T! I know it just looks like an orange shimmer but it's not. At first when I got this home I thought it was Sinful Colors - Courtney Orange repackaged. I was thankfully wrong. This is a super bright, bold, red-orange with coral undertones and it has an "oil-slick", duochrome, yellow-green, shimmer. I have a feeling this is a Zoya - Gwin dupe form the new Reverie collection. This is a stunner. This shimmer is more pronounced in real life than in the photo. The camera doesn't pick up the shimmer very well in the darker areas of the swatch , but it is still there in real life. This is way too good to be a $2 polish. This is a must have.

There are all winners in my book. I actually love all these new shades and I am yet again blown away by the way Sinful Colors is stepping up their formula. These are super, super pigmented. Sinfuls get a bad rap for being sheer, but not these. Not a sheer in site. All are very pigmented and smooth too. No disappointments. I promise. :c)

There should be rolling out to a drugstore near you and retail for $1.99.

What do you think? :c)
-Elaine

Nubar Prisms Swatches and Review

Hello all! I know I already posted these, but something was wrong with the coding that caused the post to disappear. Well, just the pics and pretty much my entire review. It must have been fine for at least a little while since you guys were able to see it and leave comments. I don't know. I am just going to post everything again. The original is still there so that I didn't delete the comments.

Prisms Collection

Inspired by the colorful play of light through a prism, those bands of light and color are embodied in nubar’s Prisms Collection. Each shade in the Prism Collection is filled with holographic glitter reflecting every color of the rainbow, with base colors just as varied, ranging from subtle neutrals to vivid pink to pale blue. Going a step beyond holographic nail lacquers, nubar’s Prism Collection is a celebration of color and light. As all nubar products, they are free of formaldehyde, phthalates, and toluene, as well as vegan and cruelty free.

Half of Nubar Prisms have a shimmer type holographic effect making them very smooth and half have holo glitter which means they dry a bit gritty, but have a very prismatic effect.

Prize, Essence, Gem, Jewel - These are the holo glitter type colors. Obviously very glittery and prismatic.

Spark, Brilliant, Treasure, Absolute - The holo shimmer type colors. The prismatic effect of these is more subtle.

Prize - Pinkish red holo. This one is very prismatic and looks great with just two coats.

Essence - Rose pink with holo gliitter. Essence looks sweet and innocent, but has a hot, sexy side thanks to the prismatic glitter! I used it on my mom for a pedicure. This swatch is three coats.

Gem - This is a mauvy-gray base with a bright purple, duochrome flash and holographic glitter. Sorry the purple flash didn't get picked up by my camera. The promo pics did not do this polish justice. I expected a lot less. This was a surprise favorite. Gem is stunning thanks to being a holo and a duochrome. Must have! This swatch is three coats.

Jewel - This is a brown holo. Brown holo!! This brown is very flattering and deep like chocolate, and the glitter is very, very prismatic. I adore this and it only needs 2 coats.

Spark - Taupe with prismatic shimmer. Neutral and classy but made more more interesting by the prismatic shimmer. This swatch is three coats.

Brilliant - This purplish pink has a strong prismatic effect and it is so pretty and dainty when I wore it I felt like I shouldn't be using my hands for anything! This swatch is three coats.

Treasure - Royal purple with strong holo. I think this was the most holographic of the "shimmer type" colors. And the purple is to die for! This swatch is three coats.

Absolute - I said it before and I will say it again, this one dissapointed me. I just didn't feel the prismatic effect from it. Although my sister wore it and loved it. To each his own! This swatch is three coats.

Sorry for being repetative, I just don't really know at what point my post vanished, so there may be several of you that didn't see the pictures and review.

Final verdict: Gorgeous collection. I think all of the glitter colors are must haves. They are very prismatic even in low light and I love the base colors of them all as well. We have a brown holo (awesome) a red holo (what we all wanted!) a duochrome holo (are you serious?!) and a delicate "safe" color if you need something more low key.
The shimmer type colors are beautiful and delicate; Soft but interesting. They all need three coats, in my opinion so if you only like 2 coaters, they probably aren't for you.
I slightly wish that the holographic effect was similar to that of Nubar - Reclaim which was also very deep and pigmented. But these are unique and beautiful and I won't complain!

Nubar Prisms are currently available at bynubar.com and retail for $9.49 a piece or $59.95 for the entire set, which breaks down to $7.49 each.

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

Nubar Prisms Swatches and Review

This post has been moved to HERE. Sorry and thank you for reading and your comments!

-Elaine

Drugstore Awesomeness: Rimmel

I picked up a couple new Rimmel London 60 Second polishes at Ulta last week (also available in most drugstores if you don't have an Ulta nearby) and I am amazed at how beautiful they are. I have swatches of Camouflage, Green With Envy and Night Before. All swatches are 2 coats.

Camouflage - This is one I have actually had for a really long time and I just wore it over the weekend. Wow. It is so beautiful! I can't believe it took me so long to wear it. It is a emerald green with gold shimmer and it glows so much it almost looks like a foil-ish metallic. I love this. I am buying a back up.

Green With Envy - I died when I saw the name of this in the store. I had to have it. It is blue!! Not green! But this turquoise shimmer does have a pretty strong green tinge to it. (It's not terribly apparent in my swatch) This is another glowing, unbelievably beautiful, foil-ish shimmer. Wow.

Night Before - This is a blurple base with a strong, bright purple flashy shimmer. My camera is totally screwing us. It would not pick up the shimmer. You have to just trust me on this one. It is really bold and beautiful and the shimmer also has a slight gold duochrome. HOTT!

The formula on these is great. The bottle says one coat and done, but I disagree. I say 2 coats, but there is nothing wrong with that. The brush is nice and easy to control. Does it dry in 60 seconds? I don't know because I throw top coat on it anyway, but I don't think it matters. I didn't buy it for dry speed. I bought for color! I need to pay more attention to Rimmel when I am shopping. These are unbelievable!

Borghese LE set: Serena

So, it's taken me a bit to get these to you! But here they are... at least half of them! This is the Borghese polish collection, Serena. The other set, Allegra, is posted on Vampy Varnish, with my pictures and review! It's so nice that Kelly featured me as a guest blogger!

Serena has four mini polishes and they are very pretty! They do not have individual names for the colors though, which I can't stand! They don't even have a number!


This is a brown with gold and red glitter! I had to have this color. It's so unique! It also has little flecks of silver in there too. We do have another holiday polish that is similar: OPI - Holiday Glow. Let's see how they compare:The gold in the Borghese color is bigger and I think the red is more pronounced too. I would pick the Borghese.

This duochrome is deep and beautiful. It is a blue-gray base that shows colors from green to blue to teal to plum. It is much better than my pictures can show. A close match if you would like a full sized bottle, is Savina - Black Pearl.

This glitter in the bottle looks identical to Sally Hansen - Rockstar Pink which is one of my favorite colors. But, it is not. The glitter is the same, but the density is not. The Borghese polish is much less dense. It takes 3 coats of it to match just one of Rockstar Pink:

This doesn't make it a bad polish. It's just not a full coverage glitter. It's good for layering.


And finally, we have a very sweet, deep purple/plum. 2 coats, and looks fantastic!


This set, along with Allegra, can be found in drugstores and Ulta and goes for $9.99.

Don't forget to check out the compliment to this series on Vampy Varnish! THANK YOU KELLY!