BB Couture Man Bug

      Hi folks!! So life has been kicking the shit out of me lately, and I needed a polish that would cheer me up and make me happay.  So I chose to wear BB Couture Man Bug, from their Ladybug Collection. 

Man Bug is a bright but soft seafoam green jelly base, stuffed with BB Couture's signature microglitter. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite (yeah, I finally got one!), no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Man Bug is a ball of cuteness upon my hands. The base color is bright and cheery, while still being soft and flattering to my skin tone, and the squishy jelliness of the finish is adorable. The glitter is also visible in all lights, and looks especially fabulous in the sun. You know, I kind of want to have a child now and name him Man Bug and pinch his cheeks, even though that would kind of make me a bad mom. Because no good can come of naming your child Man Bug. 

    Formula-wise, Man Bug was okay. It was a bit sheer and took four coats to eliminate all VNL and be perfectly even. But the coats went on pretty smoothly and dry time was surprisingly good.

 And unrelated to this color, my 400 Follower Giveaway is ending in a week, so don't forget to enter! I'm adding Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors (their version of Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers) to it as well, so don't miss out!

But that's all from me today!! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Sunday! ^_^

BB Couture Catalina Cutie

       For today, I have BB Couture Catalina Cutie from the California Beaches Collection. 

Catalina Cutie is a peachy-coral jelly base, packed with gold microshimmer, as well as tiny gold and green opalescent glitter.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

        As a color, I think Catalina Cutie is okay. The base shade won't flatter everyone, but I do think it's cute and quite appropriate for a summer day. Of course though, my favorite part of the polish would definitely have to be the microshimmer and BB Couture's signature glitter. In sunlight, they both come to life and give the polish this warmer, more orange-y look. They aren't as visible in lower light though, which is unfortunate.

      Catalina Cutie's formula was not so good. It was overly sheer and had a weird, kind of gluey texture. It also went on pretty streaky and didn't level so nicely. After trying it a few times, I ended up with three coats of color over one layer of Essie Limo-Scene, and that turned out fairly well, although some jelliness was lost in the process. Anyway, I think I'm actually gonna put this one in the purge pile. It's nice, but I'm not...that into it, I guess.

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!! n_n

BB Couture Cleopatra

Okay, so first off, can we just sit for a minute and bask in the knowledge that Locavore will be returning to RBL's lineup at some point in the future? Ahh my heart is filed with exultation....I am truly the happiest of campers.  ^_____^


But in other news, this is the last day of Autism Awareness Week here at The Phalanges Files, and even though I didn't do alll the days in the week, I think it was pretty fun! To close it out, I decided to go with Cleopatra from BB Couture's Infamous Lovers Collection. 

Cleopatra is stuck somewhere between teal green and cerulean blue and features a fine azure blue shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I like Cleopatra. The main color is beautiful, unusual, and will flatter many skin tones, and the shimmer is beautiful. The only thing with it is that I wish it were more complex. Cleopatra was such a fascinating and multi-faceted character, and a polish based on her should reflect that. This one definitely does not. 

   On the upside though, the formula on Cleopatra was good. It was smooth and controllable, and I only needed two coats for full opacity. 

And that's all for today! Thanks for reading, and have a great Monday! :D

It's a Celebration!!

        Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Since today is a celebration, it called not just for greens, but for the most festive greens I could find. So of course, I had to whip out that good sparkly stuff.   


First is Ivanka, from Zoya's Sparkle Collection. 

Ivanka is a bunch of multi-sized, emerald green, flaky, metallic particles in a sheer emerald base. The little particles come together to form that sparkly-foil finish that was freaking everywhere last year. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

      By the time I bought Ivanka, I was so sick of this type of finish that I just kind of chucked it into my polish drawer and never looked at it again. But after taking a break from it, I really like it again, lol! In sunlight, the little particles catch and reflect light so beautifully, and it's so sparkly and festive. And in lower light, you get this really pretty glow, which combined with the visual texture of the polish, makes me think of a snake. My only complaint is that in the bottle, you get this great blue duochrome that doesn't show up all on the nail. So boo. 

   Formula-wise, Ivanka was much like the other polishes in this collection. It was a little bit thin, so I ended up using three coats for full opacity and depth, and a layer of topcoat to punch up the shine. But it applied really smoothly, and as long as I gave it a few minutes between layers, I didn't have to deal with dragging. 

More glittery fun after the jump! ^_^

BB Couture Love Bug

         For today, I've got Love Bug from BB Couture's Ladybug Collection. 

Love Bug is a super squishy rose pink jelly base with tons of opalescent microglitter suspended in it. The base color here is too dark, but the other pictures are accurate. I could not really capture the glitter, but it's super tiny and delicate, and shows mostly pale green and gold, although I've managed to get blue out of it  at the right angle. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, gentle flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

      Love Bug is  without a doubt the cutest polish in my collection. From the base color, to the squishy finish, to the tiny glitter, right down to the name, it is ridiculously, almost sickeningly cute, and I love it. Like, if it were a Pokemon, it'd be Jigglypuff. Or even Igglybuff, which is cuter than Jigglypuff. Does it not scream some sort of -puff? It's just so girly and sweet, and it makes me feel the same way when I have it on. Love Bug was one of my first BB Couture lemmings, and I'm so happy that it did not disappoint, especially because BB Couture is a bit on the pricey side for me.

    However, Love Bug's formula confuses me. The first time I wore it, it was like...sticky and gross and my nails were streaky and disgustingly thick. Just horrible. But the next go round, it went on really easily. It was a bit streaky, but that evened out fine. So idk what to tell you on that one. I can tell you that I needed three coats to reach relative opacity though. I can still see a hint of VNL, but that's par for the course with jellies, so I'm cool with it.

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading! ^_^

BB Couture Antony

           I have an obsession with BB Couture. I love their bottles, their cute little coat of arms, their collection themes, their polish names, and most of all, their colors. The only thing that prevents me from owning a ton of BB Couture is the price...$9 a pop is just a bit rich for my blood. But thanks to a recent sale by Overall Beauty, I was able to grab a few precious colors. One of them was Antony, from the For Men half of the Infamous Lovers Collection. (I'm aware that the label says Anthony, but I'm just gonna stick to Antony. Anthony makes me think of Marc Anthony, which makes me think of Skeletor, and I'd rather not go down that road.)

Antony is a slightly green-leaning peacock blue creme base with lots of small multi-colored shimmer. The dominant colors in the shimmer are turquoise and purple, and from far away, you only really see the turquoise. Unfortunately, the shimmer doesn't show up that well here, but they're in the other pictures. Although you may have to enlarge to see it. As always, beware the cuticles. -__-

This angle shows more of the colors in the shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       I must confess that I only bought Antony because I bought Cleopatra. To me, they're the only couple in the collection where both of the people were kickass. The other couples in the collection (except for Carla and Michael, cuz I don't know them folks) were a hot mess. Adam ratted out Eve to God + Eve got Adam into mad trouble, Clyde was a crook who got Bonnie into a life of crime, John Smith and Pocahantas weren't even together and if they had been, then that would make John Smith totally a child molester, and Romeo was lame and stupid + he made Juliet dead. But Mark Antony and Cleopatra were awesome. They kind of got each other killed in the end, but they were great people and seemed to have a wonderful life together, so I didn't want one to be without the other. Corny, but true. 

       Luckily for me though, Antony turned out to be a great pickup...I'm glad I have it. The base color is gorgeous and saturated (a nice change from all the muted stuff out now) and changes a bit according to the light. Also, the shimmer looks awesome 100% of the time. In sunlight, you get multi-colored sparkly goodness, and then in lower light, it like..floats on top of the base, looking all glowy and magical. I couldn't get a good picture of that, but it's beautiful. 

      In terms of application, Antony was okay. The formula was a tad bit thin and runny for my taste, but it was surprisingly well-pigmented, becoming opaque in two coats. However, I used three coats in the end, because the third coat gave the polish some really nice depth. It dried fast, shiny, and smooth, but I added topcoat anyway out of habit. 

And that is all I've got for today. Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is enjoying their weekends! :D