Dollar Store Maybelline Express Swatches

Happy Monday! Are we all ready to start another week? :c)

I heard lots about great nail polish finds at dollar stores recently. Specifically at Dollar Trees. So I went hunting! I hit 5 Dollar Trees around me (only 4 had any nail polish though) and I want to show you what I found. I am going to break this into two groups: The Abundant and The Rare.

First up is the abundant colors. These all had multiple bottles in one or more stores:

Matte Gold - This is a deep, burnt orange type of gold. It's finish is matte, but it is shimmery and has a little bit of small glitter in it too. This is two coats. This one, I didn't discover until I was home and I opened it, was completely dried out. It was absolutely unusable. But a whole lotta' nail polish reviver fixed it right up!

Matte Blue - This is a slate-ish blue that finishes matte, but is shimmery and almost like a metallic. It is a bit brush stroke-y. This is 2 coats.

Emerald Water - This is a sheer blue. This swatch is 4 coats. I thought it would be a dark blue, awesome jelly but I was wrong. It is a very sheer blue. The name is bizarre for two reasons: 1) It is not emerald at all. It is blue. Emerald is green. 2) It is seriously like water. The consistency is very thin. I left the cap off for at least a whole day, and all I did was mange to evaporate some of the polish, but it was still watery. I am convinced that no matter how long I left it off for it would be that consistency. There was also a Lemon Water. So think of a polish like this, but yellow. Why the hell would I want to paint my nails with a watery, sheer yellow? So that I can achieve that highly sought, stained nails look?!?

Khaki Fringe - Ah. The star of my Abundants. This is an antique gold, olive shimmer. It is similar to OPI - At Your Quebec & Call, but this is a bit lighter. This swatch is 2 coats.

Blackened Teal - Just like the name says! This is a blackened, teal shimmer. This is two coats.


Now onto the Rares. These are all polishes that I only found one bottle of between all of the Dollar Trees that I visited.

Gold Aluminum - This is a shimmery, foil finish gold that is a really flattering, neutral shade of gold. I really love this one. This was my Thanksgiving manicure. This is 2 coats.

Shooting Stars - This is a dense, but fine, silver holographic glitter mixed with blue bar glitter. This swatch was 4 coats, but it looked just the same with 3 coats.

Hip Huggers - This is a dark, dusty lilac creme. Perfection! This is 2 coats.

Two Timer - I thought this would be a lot cooler. This is a seafoam green with a bright blue flash. I like the concept of it, but it is very sheer. This is 4 coats. I think it would make a good layering polish. It would probably look great over black.

Twinkle Twinkle - This was one that I had set my sights for when I went on my hunt. This is a dark denim color blue with sliver glitter. Similar to Essie - Starry Starry Night. This is 2 coats.

Matte Sapphire - This is essentially Twinkle Twinkle but matte. This is 2 coats.

There were lots of other colors that I didn't get, or didn't get for myself like Brown Aluminum, Matte Red, Matte Gray, and lots of burgundy and plum colors, so there is a good variety out there. The only thing I should say though is that even though they come packaged up so they can't be used, the volume of some is lower than full, probably due to evaporation, so you may need a polish reviver/thinner to enjoy them fully. So get your hunt on! They are only $1!

I also saw a quick dry top coat at a couple of the Dollar Trees, and in light of The Edge of Sanity's top coat testing, I thought "I shouldn't pass it up just because it's cheap. Maybe it'll be better than my Seche Vite!" Well, I was wrong. Although the consistency was incredible, it never dried fully. Even an hour later it was still tacky. So if you see this, don't waste your time. It blows.

NYX - Sheer Pink

This color cracks me up!!! The name is "Sheer Pink". This is neither sheer, nor pink. I rather like that! I believe that was my motivation for buying it in the first place. It's a nice light to medium gray with a silver shimmer. The formula is smooth and this swatch was 2 coats. I did smudge it up a bit though. Oops!


Here is how it compares to some other shimmery grays that have come out this past year, Essie- Sag Harbor and Orly - Pixie Dust.

Have a great weekend!
-Elaine

Gargantuan Green Grape Matte: How Does it Compare to the Original?

Hello all! When OPI released their Matte collection my emotions were all over the place. It was one of the first matte collections we got during the summer, when all the matte collex were coming out, so I was excited. Then I saw they were re-releases of past colors, so I was sad. Then I saw swatches and I was confused. These didn't even look like the originals! The one that I was most befuddled by was Gargantuan Green Grape. This was one of my first ever OPI polishes when my addiction to polish first started forming years ago. It was very odd and unique in my collection; precisely why I bought it. It is a very yellow, light green with a jelly-ish finish that I just adore. When I saw the first swatch of GGG Matte, I could tell this was nothing like the original. I needed to see them swatched side by side. Michelle of ALU did some nice comparisons of the entire collection against their originals, but she didn't have the original GGG. Well I got the matte version for myself so I could finally see it and get it out of my system!

Well looky, looky! I was right. They are totally not the same shade. And the matte GGG doesn't even look like anything you'd want to wear anyway, even if it is a nice green. The finish is just too lumpy. It is very hard to apply this one smoothly. It is way too thick and chalky. Perhaps I will try it with a matte topcoat. *sigh*

Some more Sinful Colors

I grabbed a couple new Sinful Colors to show you! I just love them.

Forget Now - This is a hott pink/fuschia with a bright pink, glass-fleck shimmer. It's cooler than my pic shows. I had a hard time getting this color-accurate. This swatch is 3 coats.


Cloud 9 - I just can't resist an orange! This is a light, pumpkin orange with a matching shimmer. This was 3 coats.

ANNNDDD I bought them at Walgreen's, buy one, get one free. That's quite the deal considering these are regularly about $1.99. If your Walgreen's is having this sale I say stock up! And if you need help here are some more of my swatches:
- HERE
- HERE
- HERE
- HERE
- HERE

China Glaze Specialty Polishes

Hello all! I are you all getting ready for Thanksgiving?! (To those in the US!) I am going to get to work on that as soon as I can, but I still have to work work work! And I have to bring you some nail pics, don't I?
:c)

Today I thought I would show you the handful of China Glaze Specialty Glitters that I have. The specialty glitters are the ones recently released that were 50 limited edition colors. I wanted to get as many as possible before I posted them but I haven't gotten around to getting more yet so I will just show off what I got!

Medallion - This is awesome! This polish has gold glitter, and tons of different sized holographic glitter suspended in a clear base. I just wish the coverage was better. This swatch was 4 coats.


Atlantis - This is a turquoise jelly polish filled with mono-sized holographic glitter. Gorgeous! It's like swimming in the Caribbean with the sun shining through the water giving off flashes of the rainbow. This swatch is 3 coats.


Dreamsicle - This is a creamsicle-orange packed with iridescent glitter that flashes orange, green, blue and purple. With a topcoat it is decently smooth.


Meteor Shower - I love the base of this dark blue. It is like a dark denim that pulls slightly purple, like Naturistics - Crystal Blue Pearl. The glitter is the iridescent type in Dreamsicle, but this one doesn't look smooth even with a big thick coat of Seche Vite top coat. It still looks lumpy. I would still wear it. Maybe I should try another layer or two of top coat.


Ginger - This is a smooth, well pigmented, burnt orange with small and larger but more sparse, holographic glitter. This picture is slightly blurred to show the holo goodness!

Have a great day and a nice holiday!
-Elaine

NOTD - Love Your Life

I know this is very Valentine's Day-esque, but I guess I was in a lovey-dovey mood! This is Sinful Colors - Sugar Sugar (Ones of my favorite reds) topped off with Nicole by OPI - Love Your Life, a clear with iridescent glitter and pink hearts suspended, much like the Nicole I showed you recently here, Let's Get Star-ted.

I saw Love Your Life on sale at Walgreen's and screamed "mine!" and bought it. I later checked out the name and I loved it even more! It's so positive. I have to sometimes remind myself to be happy. You know how sometimes you're just in a rut, or down or blue? And you get those "my life sux" thoughts? Well, if you don't that is really awesome, but if you do, I feel ya. It may seem silly to think a nail polish can change your mood or day but a positive little message like that does help!

Have a wonderful day!
-Elaine

Update on Lippmann Collection Anniversary Set

Lippmann Collection - Ruby Red Slippers

Lippmann Collection - Superstar

Great news! You know how when I posted swatches of the Anniversary Collection in the summer it was only available as a set? And you were all thinking, "Geez, that Ruby Red Slippers and Superstar are sure ruining it for me! I don't want to have to buy the whole set just to get that lovely Funky Chunky!" HAHAHAHA!!! Yeah right. Everyone hates FC. I actually try to give it a chance, but I am one of few.

Anyway, in case you were not aware, they are all available separately now on Lippmann's website, and retail for $18.00 a piece.

Love,
-Elaine

Canada Exclusive - Sally Hansen - Project Runway

Well the lovely ladies in the north don't have it bad at all. Check out one of the most to-die-for green and gold combination polishes I have ever seen:

(Please excuse my boo-boo!)
It's Sally Hansen - Project Runway and it is a Canadian Exclusive. I hate things being country exclusive! Don't do that! And especially with a color as mouth-watering as this! This is a slight blue, green base with irregular shaped gold glitter particles. Like crushed up gold. Stunning.

If you're not in Canada, then I don't know where to tell you to get this! If you are, I am very happy for you! I was able to swap Sally Hansen HD minis to get this sent over the border to me. And I am sure glad that I did!

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!

Lacquer Laine's Guest Appearance

Hi all! I am just writing to let you know that you can find a post from me today on the amazing and fabulous nail blog, Vampy Varnish!!! Kelly kindly agreed to let me do a guest post for her! I am sooo excited!

Kelly's blog, Vampy Varnish, to me, is one of the top biggest and best nail polish blogs you can come by. She always has new collections to show us, she takes beautiful, sunny pictures (jealous of her California sun!) and she includes a lot of herself on her blog like her furry companions, and I really like that. Speaking of which, I haven't shown of recent pics of my furry buddy. I will have to fix that.

ANYWAY.... Vampy Varnish was recently selected as a HLMN Hot 100 finalist. So I am not the only one that thinks she is one of the best!

You can see me (well, my hands!) over there today, and I will be posting again here later today as well!

Have a wonderful Friday!

-Elaine

Essie Starry Starry Night? Is that you?

NO! But it looks like it! This is Naturistics - Crystal Blue Pearl and it is supposed to be a dead dupe for Essie - Starry Starry Night which I have come to terms with not ever owning. It was very exciting to learn that there was a look-alike to SSN available, but the excitement soon faded when I learned Crystal Blue Pearl is also a hard to find shade. Well, the polish gods smiled on me and sent me an angel. Liz of Iceomatic's Nails kindly gifted this to me. How sweet!! I still can't believe it.
And of course, I had to see it matte.
You may recall a while back I did a post about a franken for Essie - Starry Starry Night and I thought I did a pretty good job on it.


This was the photo of my franken, Evening Twinkler, which consisted of half Wet and Wild - Nocturnal and half LA Colors - Silver Glitter. Now that I had almost the real SSN in my hands, I can see that I was a bit off in the shade of the polish. Crystal Blue Pearl, or SSN, is not as cobalt blue looking as my swatch. It's more of a cool, dark denim color. Almost pulling purple. So I added some purple! I dropped in some Zoya- Pinta and I made Evening Twinkler 2.0:


You can see the shade is now pretty much exact. The only thing it needs now is a bit more glitter and it is perfect. So if you tried it before and want to get closer, throw in some purple!

Have a great day!
-Elaine