Monday, March 24, 2014

Milani Spring 2014 Gold Label

Happy Monday!

A few weeks ago in CVS I found the new Milani Spring line. Milani isn't a brand I'm drawn too much. Makeup wise I think Milani is the best drugstore find out there so I purchased a few from their polish line. Check out a description of each after the jump!

Power Periwinkle is a dusty blue, periwinkle creme. The formula was great, two easy coats to full opacity. I love blues like this!

Showy Sea Green is a green creme. Again great formula needing only 2 coats to be opaque.


Sugar High is a glitter in a clear base with orange, blue, green and gold matte glitters. Here I used 1 coat over OPI I Love Applause. The formula was awesome!


Sugar Rum is another glitter topper with gold, blue, red and black matte glitters. The gold glitters are shards which gives it a different glitter type feel. I used one coat over Zoya Cole.


Overall I was very impressed with the consistency of these polishes. You can find these at CVS and retail for $5-$6 each.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Colores de Carol

Hi everyone. Some months ago I stumbled across a new indie brand to me, Colores de Carol. She was having some type of flash sale so I picked up these 2.

Arbolito is a green crelly with a scattered holo. The holo wasn't that strong. Formula wise it was just ok. It was a little goopy so I had to add thinner. I didn't care for how the polish dried so top coat was necessary.

Autumn Memories is a mustard yellow crelly with a faint scattered holo. Again the holo wasn't strong and the formula wasn't good. In fact the maker had to send me another bottle, the first one was just impossible to apply. It was so thick thinner wouldn't help it. The second bottle I got was a little better but still not my cup of tea. Here I used 2 coats plus top coat.

These polishes are no longer available but there are very similar polishes on her site here.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Liquid Sky Lacquer Mish Mash

Hi everyone. I wanted to post something St. Patricks Day related since I won't be wearing anything on my nails. I have a big trip Monday, business related, so green nails aren't appropriate.

Kiss Me I'm Irish is a thermal polish that turns green when cold and gold when warm. In both states it has gold flakies.  No complaints on formula, here are 2 coats plus top coat.This polish on me stayed in an ombre effect which I loved. The tips were usually green and my nail bed gold.



French Quarter is another thermal polish that's a deep purple with gold flakies when cold and gold when warm. The formula was good and took 2-3 coats for full opacity. Again I constantly loved to ombre effect I got with this polish. There's also a bluish hue when transitioning but I couldn't capture in photos.

Fat Tuesday is a glitter bomb!  Suspended in a clear base, it's got purple, green and gold holo hex glitters. The formula was superb and one coat shown here gives awesome coverage. Undies is Butter London Bossy Boots.


These indie polishes retail for $9-12 each and you can find them here.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Legion Lacquer - Decadent Diamond

Yikes!! It's been almost 1 week since I've blogged. I have been buried deep into my career lately with many new opportunities so please excuse my absence here. To make matters worse I'm heading up north on a business trip this coming week so it may not get any better :(

Anyhow today I'm excited to share with you a polish I received from the lovely ladies at Legion Lacquer. Decadent Diamond is a holographic glitter polish suspended in a clear base. The holo particles are very dense and there's also some holo glass flakies that color shift  = total awesomeness!! It's fully opaque on its own or could be used as a top coat for any nail art. If you are a fan of the coveted China Glaze Fairy Dust or Glistening Snow then this is right up your alley.

Here I used 3 coats plus top coat.


I also did a fun neon summer gradient using China Glaze Thistle Do Nicely, Bottoms Up and Flip Flop Fantasy, topped with 1 coat of Decadent Diamond.


This polish is so versatile and I can see myself grabbing it for many manis any season. You can now preorder this beauty here and it retails for $10. The official release date is April 1.


Sunday, March 9, 2014

OPI Muppets Most Wanted

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a great weekend. Today's post is one I've been dying to share, OPI Muppets Most Wanted. OPI is my favorite mainstream brand and I get so excited when they release new collections.

This collection is being released with the upcoming Muppets movie. As a young child I was very much into The Muppets. The last collaboration OPI had with The Muppets was a huge success so I knew I wasn't going to miss out on this one. This collection comes with 8 polishes ranging from cremes to shimmers to glitters. Check out a description of each after the jump!
 
I Love Applause is a sheer baby pink creme. This color was very flattering and took 3 coats to be opaque but I'm in love!


Miss Piggy's Big Number is an iridescent almost metallic blue. The first coat was very sheer and I thought I wouldn't like it. However when I applied the second coat it became fully opaque. You can somewhat see brush strokes so be careful with application. I think it would look even better with a matte topcoat but I forgot to apply it before taking it off.


Muppets World Tour is a silver based glitter with small fuchsia and blue hex glitters with smaller white hex glitters. I loved everything about this polish and can easily seeing it as being a favorite of the year. This glitter is opaque on its own in about 2-3 coats but can also be used as a topper. For the photos below I used 1 coat over Pearnova Pink Is The Flavor ( I will soon be doing a blog post on Pearnova) but the ring finger has 3 coats of Muppets World Tour alone.


Chillin Like A Villain is a peachy nude cream. It was opaque in 3 coats here. Formula wise it was good and a favorite of mine from this collection.


Int'l Crime Caper is a pearlescent shimmer with pink and blue shimmers. I don't usually go for colors as this but this was another surprise favorite. The photos show 4 coats and you can still see VNL. This is the type of polish where if I'd applied more it would still not be opaque but I didn't really care here.


Let's Do Anything We Want is a clear based glitter with baby pink hexes, large and small white square glitters. I wasn't a big fan of this glitter, I'm not too much into square glitters. Here I used 1 coat over Int'l Crime Caper.



Gaining Mole-Mentum is a glitter in clear base with rose gold and yellow gold shards. I also caught a couple of bar glitters, I don't know of that was a fluke or what. Initially I didn't think I would like it that much but it was ok I guess. I used one coat over Chillin Like A Villian.


Kermit Me To Speak is a duochrome that shifts from pink to tan. I'm not a big lover of duochromes but this one really shocked me. The duochrome was very strong and this was also one of my favorites. 




Overall I'm very pleased with this collection. Applications  wise it was of ease which is why I love OPI so much. My favorites were I Love Applause, Muppets World Tour, Kermit Me To Speak and Chillin Like A Villain. These are now available at Sally's Beauty or Ulta and retail for $9 each.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

CNDC Vinylux Open Road

A few weeks ago I ran across beyondpolish.com, an e-tailer selling polish at a discount. Their prices are slightly lower than what you may find in drugstores or on Amazon. A huge plus is they have quick and affordable shipping.

On one of my many sleepless nights I ran across the CNDC Vinylux Open Road collection and decided to give them a try. I've read many reviews of this line but never ventured out to give them a try. The CNDC Vinylux Line is described as a breakthrough polish system that is supposed to last for 1 week, without a base coat but using their special topcoat. Immediately I knew I would not be investing in the topcoat, I rarely leave my polish on for over 2 days. So instead I decided to try 3 colors just to be adventurous.

First is my favorite of the three, Sun Bleached. It's dusty yellow creme. I loved this color so much. The formula was great, just 2 coats here with no issues known that yellow polishes have.


Next is Clay Cannon, a clay creme. This color reminded me of my childhood. As a little girl I would often take road trips down south with my grandfather. He'd always point out the clay found in southern South Carolina and Georgia on I-95 south. Clay Cannon had a great formula, just 2 coats here and no top coat.


Last is Sage Scarf, a dusty sage green creme. Again the formula was very similar to the others, no issues, an easy 2 coats with no top coat.


I really enjoyed these and can definitely see myself purchasing more. I wish I could attest to their claim of the polish lasting for a week. I kept these on for swatching purposes only.

These are still available at beyondpolish.com for $4.95 each.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Orly Blush Spring 2014

Hi guys! Today's post is more spring polish! I can't stop with all these new collections, they're coming out way too fast for me to keep up and really making me want spring to hurry up and get here.

Orly's latest spring collection is right in trend with natural and feminine blush tones. Recently a lot of mainstream brands have released very similar colors such as from Zoya's Naturel and OPI Brazil.
There were 6 in total and I chose 4.

Check out a description of my picks after the collage.


Cheeky is a peachy shimmer with gold flecks. The formula was a little watery but not difficult to work with. It was a little sheer so I used 3 coats with no top coat.


First Blush is a salmon/pink creme. The formula was perfection, 2 coats here with no top coat.


Classic Contours is a mauve creme. This is such a staple color I think everyone should own. It's very reminiscent of a lemming of mine, Parlez Vous OPI, which is a vhtf (very hard to find) polish that I constantly stalk daily on eBay or Amazon. The formula here was great to work with, 2 coats with no top coat.


Flawless Flush is a lilac shimmer with gold flecks. The formula was similar to Cheeky, a little watery but not at all hard to work with. Here is 2 coats with no top coat.


The Blush collection is now available at Sally's Beauty and Ulta or online at Orlybeauty.com.

Monday, March 3, 2014

China Glaze City Flourish - Pollen In Love

Happy Monday! Today I have my remaining picks from the China Glaze City Flourish collection, Pollen In Love. I picked 4 out of the 6 from Sally's Beauty last week because they were buy one get one free!
The formula on each of these are again pretty much the same as my review of the others from this collection. Most of them were streaky, chalky and not self leveling. This is pretty much typical from China Glaze summer/spring collections. What always gravitates me to them still knowing this are their colors. I think the little extra work is well worth the color payoff.

Thistle Do Nicely is a true neon pink. It dries matte so a top coat is needed (unless you like a matte finish). The formula was not as bad to deal with. This one reminded me of other popular neons from China Such as Pool Party or Flip Flop Fantasy. Below is 2 coats with top coat.


Metro Pollen-Tin is a yellow orange creme. It's a lot more orange in person than shown here. Application was chalky and a bit streaky. A good top coat will even it out well. In the photos are 2 coats plus top coat.


 Grass Is Lime Greener is a creme bright green. The formula again was streaky and not the best working with however it's the best lime green I own so I'll deal with it. The photos show 2 coats plus top coat. 


What A Pansy is a creme purple. It was a bit squishy like, leaning towards a jelly but it's a creme. This one was hands down the best formula of the entire collection. The photos show 2 coats plus no top coat.


I used 3 of  of the colors, What A Pansy, Grass Is Lime Greener and Metro Pollen-Tin for a fun summer gradient. It's topped with Polish Me Silly Clowning Around.


The City Flourish collection is now out in Sally's beauty and buy one get one free for the entire month of March.