A Couple Revlon Sweetly Seductive Swatches

HELLO!!! I AM NOT DEAD!!!! YAY!

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon an untouched display of bright, juicy looking nail polishes with matching lip glosses. Upon further inspection, I realized that the polishes were scented and they were crazy shimmery! They all have a almost indescribable shimmer but I will try: It's not quite flakie, not quite glass-fleck, not a standard shimmer and not a glitter. It's a bit of all of them.

Watermelon Fizz - This is a bright, juicy jelly red with the firey flake type shimmer. The scent is of course watermelon and it is reminiscent of watermelon lip balm. Like a Bonne Bell, or something. Very pretty and I got decent coverage in three coats.

Grape Fizz - This is a pale, uneventful purple jelly base but the shimmer is amazing!!! The shimmer is bright, glowing blue purple and pink. It took me four coats to achieve this swatch. I think it would be more impressive layered. The scent actually reminds me of those scented big bouncing balls you could get at Wal-Mart or wherever that had a grape on it and smelled like a grape, or a cherry and smelled like a cherry. Yeah. It's funny the nostalgia you experience from scents.

In this collection there is also:
Grapefruit Fizz (pink)
Orange Fizz (orange)
Mint Fizz (blue)
Apple-tini Fizz (green)
Pineapple Fizz (yellow)
Colada Fizz (baby blue)

What do you think?!
-Elaine
:c)

Glam Slam France Part Deux

Hello! I have the other set of OPI - Glam Slam for you today!

Rally Pretty Pink - This is a mauvy, pinky, purple with very strong gold shimmer. It reminds me of Zoya - Faye but I haven't compared them yet.

Red Shatter (shown over Rally Pretty Pink) - This shatter is awesome because it is a sheer, jelly-ish crackle as opposed to an opaque creme crackle like most are. It allows the shimmer or glitter in your base color to come through a bit. I like that because I feel uncomfortable using a creme crackle over a shimmer or glitter, but having that translucent property makes me feel better. :c) I also thought I would feel uncomfortable about this crackle combo, but it actually does look nice.

What do you think?
:c)
Elaine

OPI Femme de Cirque

This spring, step right up and enjoy Femme de Cirque by OPI, four new breathtakingly dreamy additions to the SoftShades collection, designed to unleash a woman’s inner ring mistress. The collection includes three pink hues and one sheer glitter coat that can be worn on its own or painted over any of the other lacquers for an entirely new look.

These all look rather similar so what I am going to do is show them to you from least pink to most pink:

So Many Clowns, So Little Time - This is a sheer, squishy white with hints of pink and peach. This swatch is 4 coats. If you want to wear it with decent opacity, this is probably about how many coats you will have to do. I used this for a french manicure and it was awesome. I only used one coat for that. I would show pics but it really didn't photograph well.

Step Right Up! - This is a very white pink in a squishy, jelly form. This is the most opaque of the pinks. This swatch is three coats and as you can see, the opacity is decent. I like the cleanness of this shade.

In The Spot-Light Pink - This is a glossy, sheer, pink. This is the most sheer of the bunch. This swatch is 4 coats and as you can see this is never going to get to a reasonable opaque mani, but the smoothness, and shade could pass for a finished polished look if you like this. I would suggest it for a french manicure though.

I Juggle... Men (shown over black) - This is a clear with purple shimmer. I inspected this closely trying to figure out if it is blue, purple and red shimmer all mixed together, or if it was one shimmer that flashed all the colors. Regardless, that is the colors you get and I like!

So my final thoughts are that these are lovely shades. I think you can get away with wearing a couple of these alone but what I found great about these is that that they are fantastic for french manicures because they are perfectly smooth and apply evenly and not streaky at all. This allows you to do one coat, two coats, etc. However many you desire for your french.

And of course, I Juggle...Men is awesome.

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.

Dr. Remedy Swatches and Review

Dr. Remedy is a new line of doctor inspired cosmetics dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic, anti-fungal ingredients. The birth child of two New-York based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel, Dr Remedy's proves quintessentially perfect for any person looking to better the condition of her skin and nails.

Healing Heather Gray - This is a gray creme. This shade of gray is nice and neutral. Not too dark or light, not too warm or cool, it's very flattering and soothing.

Revive Ruby Red - This is a pretty, ruby red shimmer. This is pretty, but I felt like I probably had enough red shimmers so I gave this to my sister.

Desire Dark Brown - Yummy. This is a dark chocolate brown creme. This reminds me a lot of OPI - Suzi Loves Cowboys but it's a bit darker.

Dr. Remedy polishes are available on remedynails.com and are $16. There are other colors including blues and purples and they also have a base coat and cuticle treatment.

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.

Serena Williams - Grand Slam from OPI

Simply Smashing - This is an awesome, very yellow, green shimmer. It's a bright, weird, maybe hard to pull off green, but that is the kind of shades that I like!

Black Shatter - Shown over Simply Smashing - Black Shatter is released with this collection as well as the Katy Perry collection if you were wondering. I was confused about it at first. I don't mind of course because I love Black Shatter. I may have been more exciting if they did a different color shatter, but it's cool.

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.

Nicole by OPI - Wal-Mart Exclusives - January 2011

I don't know if there is an actual name for this set or if it is just "Wal-Mart Exclusives". I have swatches for you of four new shades added to the Wal-Mart line of Nicole by OPI. They are meant to be "timeless and sophisticated shades".

He's A Keeper - Bright red, creamy creme. This is sort of on the orange side and I like that. It's hard to make an red creme different, and this one has at least a bit of an edge.

Got Style? - This is a cinnamon, brick reddish, shade with a ton of silver shimmer. This is reminding me of a gingerbread cookie color and I like it because it's interesting but work appropriate. I wore this as a "work shade".

Never Give Up - Unless it's on trying to make polishes like this. This is a magenta with small holo glitter, which should be awesome, but the base is too opaque and frosty, and with the glitter it turns into a lumpy mess. This swatch even has a top-coat on it and it doesn't help even it out :c(

Count On Me - Back to the good stuff. This is a shimmery lilac with a flashy duochrome blue to purple shimmer. This is sheer so I layered it over Sally Hansen - Thinking of Blue.

These are available at select Wal-Mart stores this month.

What do you think?!
:c)
-Elaine

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.

Snowflakes

I got festive! I did nice winter mani for myself (and for all you!)

This is China Glaze - Frosty layered over a base of white creme. Then I stamped snowflakes with Konad plates M59 and M70 and China Glaze chrome shades in Harmony, Millennium, Devotion and Awaken.

What do you think?!
Elaine
:c)

Glitter Nail Polish - Born Pretty Review

Another product that I had a chance to review from bornprettystore.com is a few of their "glitter color nail lacquer" shades.

There are four that I have to review. Unfortunately they aren't named but there is a white, beige, purple and pink.

white - This is a sheer white with a glittery, flakie type glitter, a la Zoya - Glitters, that flickers green and pink. This is three coats.

beige - This is an awesome shade because it is neutral and work appropriate but also interesting and fun. This is three coats.

purple - This is bright purple sheer that has the flakie glitter that flashes green, gold and a bit of blue. This will be good for layering.

pink - This may be my favorite, only because it is the most opaque. It's a milky pink with a green shimmer. It's not the glitter type like the other ones. It's more fine of a shimmer but it is pretty.

A few comments about these:

1. These are not sold separately. These are only a few of the shades that come in a set of 45 of these glitter shades. I don't know if I would really want an army of 45 of these, but if you do, they are available here for $82.31.
2. These are mini bottles. I don't have a problem at all with mini bottles. These are a fine size and have a good brush. The funny thing about these is that they say they are 0.6 oz but this is what they look like compared to a bottle that is actually 0.6 oz:
3. These smell really bad. They have an outrageous chemically smell that makes me feel like I am going to pass out if I breathe it in. Good thing it says this:

Merry Christmas!

This is Finger Paints - Spun Sugar topped with Christmas decals that I got from Sally's Beauty Supply. Cina? I believe. The best one is the reindeer:

Look how cute!
:c)

OPI Burlesque Shimmers (Part II)

The second part of the OPI Burlesque collection is made up of various shimmers from foily shimmers, to glass-flecked shimmers and more. Take a look >>>

Ali's Big Break - This is a bright, candy apple red with irregular shaped shimmer. This is bold and spicy and I loved wearing this.

Tease-y Does It - This is a brownish purple with a glowy shimmer. It's vampy but not so dark it doesn't have it's own color and character. I love this.

Rising Star - Bold, slightly foily, shimmery yellow gold. It looks like what you would get if you crossed Nubar - Caramello and Nubar - Oro from the Venetian Glass collection.

Take The Stage - Burnt orange, slightly foily shimmer. Also similar to the oranges in the Venetian Glass collection.

Let Me Entertain You - Glass-flecked fuchsia. Very pretty and hot! Super similar to Zoya - Allegra. Like, practically dupes. It just seemed to me like Allegra was thinner, or it just took more because it has a smaller brush than the OPI but I got LMEY on in two coats and it took 3 with Allegra.

The Show Must Go On - This is my favorite!! I may even like this one more than all the glitters! :cO This is a hot pink foil with a gold/copper duochrome shimmer. It's much like MAC - Bad Fairy, but better! They are not dupes, but they have similar properties which makes me compare them. For all the days I was wearing this all I could think is "This is so much better than Bad Fairy!" The colors differ because Bad Fairy is deeper and more cranberry and The Show Must Go On is more like a hot strawberry. The similarities are the finish and the gold/copper duochrome, but the base color is much different. They do look similar in the bottle though don't they?!>>
What do you think of Part II of Burlesque?
:c)
-Elaine

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.

Still Love Mattes

I had a crazy idea for some fun with my matte top coat and made an over the top layering mani. I started with super bright red creme. Then I added Wet n Wild - Ice Blue Pearl that I used for this matte mani. Then I threw on a coat of Sally Hansen - Hidden Treasure because matte flakies are one of my most favorite things ever. I don't like the end result that much because the blue is over powering. There is less blue on the right hand nails, but the cuticles on that hand were not camera ready soo.....

This close up is actually from my right hand. I like the more subtle blue flash and more emphasis on the flakies.

What do you think?

:c)
Elaine

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)

A Couple New Sally Hansen Insta Dris

So you know how I said that the Borghese shades I posted were buy one get one at Rite Aid? Well so were Sally Hansen's apparently. At least the Insta-dris for sure. Because I bought two and one was free! They were from a brand new display of metallics. Here are the colors I got:

Golden Flash - This is a rose with.... you guessed it! A golden flash! Lots of it. The golden shimmer in this is very pronounced and makes a boring rose not boring at all.

Metallic Momentum - Wow wow. This is a chrome gold with a aged olive tint. I think this may be a close dupe to BB Couture - Blind Love and Chanel - Kaleidoscope, but I don't have either to compare myself. Hopefully a comp pic will pop up from another blogger.

This is also great for Konading/stamping:

Chromes usually are good for this and this is no exception.

These retail for $4.95 and like I mentioned they are BOGO at Walgreen's this week. I meant Rite Aid! Ooops.

What do you think?
Elaine
:c)

Powder Puff Dupe

Have you all seen the new matte Revlon polishes? Well I haven't! But I have seen some pics, and I really loved the look of Powder Puff, a soft, squishy white matte with blue flash. But I didn't know where to find it, or if I would find it and instead of trying to hunt it down, as fun as a NP hunt can be, I decided to dupe the look. This is what I came up with.

I started with two coats of Essie - Marshmallow, a squishy, white jelly. Then I layered over it, a
coat of Wet n Wild - Ice Blue Pearl. I set that with Seche Vite and then the next day I added a coat of Essie - Matte About You. I really like the end result and from what I have seen of Power Puff swatches, it looks pretty darn close!

What do you think?
Elaine
:c)