Brucci Swatches Part 2

           Good morning, everybody!! Happily, the weather cooperated with me yesterday and I was able to finish swatching my Brucci polishes. So for today, I have Amelia's Amethyst and Grape Galaxy. Three cheers for alliteration!

Amelia's Amethyst is a rich, deep, purple polish, with lots of violet and blue shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Amelia's Amethyst is so pretty. It's such a lively and royal purple, and I can imagine it looking good on pretty much any skin tone. It also went on very smoothly, was easily controlled, and is well-pigmented, only needing two coats to achieve full opacity.

   My only complaint about Amelia's Amethyst is that once more, it's not a unique color. As I was admiring it, I couldn't help but feel as if it were a dead-on dupe for China Glaze Let's Groove. So I did a little comparison.

L-R: Let's Groove, Amelia's Amethyst, Let's Groove, Amelia's Amethyst

It turns out that I was wrong, and that they are not exactly the same. Let's Groove is a teeny bit redder and deeper than Amelia's Amethyst. But the shimmer is identical, and even the difference in color is so negligible, that I don't think anyone really needs both. 

~♥~

Grape Galaxy is a blackened blue-based purple, with a ton of silver shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. 

    I love love love Grape Galaxy! It's like...Explosive Meteor's older, sexier brother, right down the pink and green shimmer that shows in the bottle and not on the nail. I love that Grape Galaxy is a deep purple, but never looks black, and the contrast of the shimmer against the base is lovely. And best of all, I don't own or even think I've seen any colors quite like this. The formula was really nice too...it gave no trouble, and was opaque in three coats. 

     Overall, I still feel kind of meh about Brucci.  Grape Galaxy is a thang of beauty, but it's not enough to overcome my slight disappointment with the other colors I have. But meh is better than blech, I guess. Have a great day, everyone! 

Brucci Swatches Part 1

           With nothing much to do yesterday but sleep and watch the little delinquent who lives down the street get arrested (da-raah-ma!!), I got a chance to swatch a few of my Brucci polishes. The sun went home for the day before I could finish, so there'll be a second part tomorrow, weather willing. But for today, I have Explosive Meteorite, Christian Court, and Donna Mite.

Explosive Meteorite is a dark grey base, with lots of silver shimmer. In the bottle, the shimmer is more multi-colored...there's green and pink along with the silver. But only the silver stuff really makes it to the nail. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. 

     Explosive Meteorite is gorgeous, but I definitely do not see why they would call it Explosive Meteor. It is a....space-y color, true. It has that...cold, devoid of life look that makes one think of deep space. But it doesn't make me think of any kind of exploding meteor. Maybe more of an asteroid or moon rock? I also don't think it's a very unique color, but formula-wise, Explosive Meteor was pretty good. The polish was well pigmented, and was opaque in two coats, although I used three in the pictures. It was a tad runny, but nothing too horrible, and it applied very smoothly. 

More after the jump!!

Brucci Typhoon Lagoon + Konad and a Haul!

            Okay, so I lied. If anything, I'm wearing more purple today than I was yesterday. But yesterday, I was le tired. Far too tired to remove nail polish and reapply it and then let it cure. So I decided to do some nail art over it, to keep it fresh. I based the design off the name of one of OPI's new colors, Catch Me In Your Net.

Sunlight, no flash.

Brucci Typhoon Lagoon is the base color, and I used Wet n Wild French White Creme to stamp the fishnet pattern from Konad (yes, real konad!! o_o) plate M57.

Sunlight, no flash.

Then, on my ring finger, I applied a purple fimo butterfly. It's supposed to be caught in the net. lmao.

Natural light, no flash.

Lastly, because I couldn't help myself, I put on one coat of Finger Paints Floatin' on a Cloud, and finished the whole thing with two coats of Poshe. The Floatin' on a Cloud is ten times more obvious in person.

    I'm suprisingly happy with this design. I fear fimo, because in the wrong hands, it can look tacky and gaudy. And yes...my hands are so so wrong. But I like how subtle this is. I think the key for me will be to just use it in moderation, and to cut the stuff as thin as possible. When my nails get longer, I'll probably use more, but for now, this is enough. 

 And I bought the fimo from i_fact, a Hong Kong seller. I paid $6 USD for 100 canes, which I think is a pretty good deal.

   Muahaha, but that is not the haul that I mentioned in the title. I was talking about some stuff that I bought from maytheps-au.com. I don't really have plans for all this stuff, but I'm sure something will come up. 

I've been dying to have a set of these, for when I need to soak off some hardcore glitter. They even have a little scraper on the inside of the liquid receptacles to help with removal. 

I also got a 12 piece set of nail art brushes. ^_^

A set of rhinestone picker uppers. I've used toothpicks, but I hate how the splinter and have to be thrown away. I also have a silicone one from Sally's, but when I try to press in the gems, they like...slide around and mess up the design. I hope these will let me put them in neatly and securely. And they'd be good for decals, which toothpicks and the silicone picker upper does nothing for.

Clear rhinestones, in 10 shapes: round, square, rectangle, teardrop, crescent, heart, star, flower, triangle, and oval.

Oval Rhinestones in 12 Colors, Round Rhinestones in 12 colors.

Gold and Silver Beads.

These things are seriously tiny. And they move in the package by themselves, so I think mine are haunted.

    Demon infested beads aside, I'm really happy with the service I received from this company. The products appear to be of a good quality...the rhinestones aren't the nasty dull kind, the brushes feel sturdy and aren't shedding, and the soakers have good rubber seals. They have scary fast shipping too. I ordered on June 15th, my order shipped out on the 17th, and I received it this afternoon. Considering the weekend and the fact that this stuff came from Hong Kong, that's really amazing. And best of all, the prices are really great. This stuff came out to $20 USD, which is inexpensive to me, considering what I got. 

   They also have an ebay store where the shipping is just as fast, and it's free. I think the ebay store is better for individual or smaller purchases, like if you want a few rhinestone wheels or some acrylic powder or something. But for bigger purchases, I think the storefront is far more convenient, because there's a cart and if you register, they keep track of your purchases. 

   Well, that's enough shameless promotion for today. I hope everyone has a great and relaxing evening! 

Brucci Typhoon Lagoon

           Happy Father's Day!! I know I'm tardy for the party, but I thought I'd say it anyway. Today, I'm wearing Brucci Typhoon Lagoon. It does not have anything to do with my dad, but my sister wanted me to paint her nails with it, and I hadn't used it yet. But none shall use it before me! So I wore it today. ^_^

Typhoon Lagoon is a lovely and glowy pale purple base with a strong blue shimmer. I'm not sure whether or not to call it a duochrome...sometimes, it looks purple and sometimes it looks blue. So maybe it is? 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

         Typhoon Lagoon is a gorgeous and thoroughly engaging color. My pictures don't do it justice at all, but it really is intriguing. It looks a little metallic, but at the same time, looks dreamy. Nice and soft and nebulous. In different lights, it shifts between blue and purple, often appearing to be both at one time. I could really stare at Typhoon Lagoon for days. 

       But Typhoon Lagoon has some application issues. It's watery and on the sheer side, and the first coat was a horror to put on. It streaked and dragged and was just painful. It did get better with every coat, and by the fifth coat, it was very smooth and easy to apply. Even though it took five coats to achieve bottle color, dry time wasn't too bad. But in the future, I'll be trying to layer this over black, and when I want it to just look normal, I'll put it over a white.

    And even though I really enjoyed wearing this color today, for tomorrow, I'm going to try to find something not related to purple. I've been wearing a ton of purple, and I'm all purpled out.  x_x
Have a good night, everyone!!

NOTD: Revlon Bubble Gum + Fauxnad

       I'm not wearing Grape Icy today, like I originally planned. I had two finals scheduled for today, so I opted to jazz up Bubble Gum instead of trying to put on an entire new color. 

I used the necklace-like pattern on the M30 fauxnad plate. This one came from Hong Kong.

I stamped on the pattern with Brucci TJ's Blue Suede Shoes, and then I added a pale pink rhinestone to each nail, to hide the fact that some of the flowers looked more like little blobs. I really love the combination of navy blue and hot pink. It's a fun twist on the old pink and blue color pair.

 Sorry for the bubble and the busted spot near the gem. My Poshe is starting to thicken up and act a fool. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. This picture is truest to color, in regards to Bubble Gum.

      Lol, some of the patterns are crooked (especially the pinky, which is completely doing its own thing), but I've accepted the fact that I will probably never position a Konad pattern straight on my nail. And despite the crookedness, I've gotten a few compliments on this look already. I almost don't want to take it off, but due to my nail ADD, it'll be gone by tonight. 

     That's all for today, so I'm going to go study for my other final today. I can't wait for this week to be ovah. :(

Stash Pictures + Konad!

           In order to procrastinate on my homework, I decided to take some pictures of my stash! It's a baby one, compared to some people's, but I am a college student...I ain't big ballin like that. Besides, I love my baby stash...it's like my little family. And I think it'd be fun to look back on these years down the road, when I'm fifty years old, with a bunch of cats and nail polish. Also, I have a couple of konad pictures too. So stash first, then konads.
Also, wtf man....why did blogger change their picture thingy? At least you can add more than one picture at a time now.

These are all my untried nail polishes. A few of these, I've actually worn already, but I don't like the pictures of them that I have, so I need to take them again.

These are the ones that I've worn and photographed to my satisfaction. I'm going to get a real basket for these someday. The Borghese Hydrati treatment, Seche Ridge Filing Base and Orly Bonder snuck into the picture though.

Here is where I keep my black and white nail polishes. Not many here. 

Here are all my topcoats and basecoats.

And here are some untrieds that I couldn't fit into my basket, along with my matte top coats. 

     At some point in the future, I'd like to find some real storage for these. Like a cabinet or rack. The baskets are okay, but I'm quickly running out of space, especially as I make a dent in my untried polishes.

And now for Konad pictures.

This is actually from my fauxnad hello kitty plate. The base is Brucci Chris's Green Belt, and the pattern is stamped on with Wet n Wild Sterling Silver. The rhinestone decal in the center came from Rite Aid. And the lighting is weird because it was dark, so I used my bootleg studio lighting. I made it by taking an old lamp and covering the opening with a T-shirt and some tissue paper. It would have worked, but the lamp makes yellow light, instead of white. So that was that. But interestingly, the yellow light gave me a more accurate picture of Chris's Green Belt. I didn't manipulate this image at all; the color is how the camera captured it. 

This was made with Konad plate M66. I used the butterfly and flower patterns. Sorry for the lack of diagram. But anyway, the base is Scherer Blue Sky and the pattern is stamped with Sally Hansen White On. This is in natural light, no flash.

And a closer look. I don't like this one though..maybe I should have done it in black. And the pattern is a little effed up. But that's okay.

    And that's all the rambling randomosity I have for today. *drags self off to do homework*

Earth Week Day 6: Brucci Chris's Green Belt

            Whoo coming down the home stretch here. Today, I'm wearing Brucci Chris's Green Belt. This was another one that my camera was not too friendly with, so these pictures are again manipulated to fit what I see on my nails. I think I need a new camera too...this one is heaving its last, dying breaths. 

Chris's Green Belt is a vibrant, rich shade of green with green shimmer. The color itself is hard to describe. It's basically emerald green but with a bit of blue.

Natural light, no flash. It was another overcast day. 

Natural light, no flash.

And for comparison purposes, here's the unretouched version.

     This is a beautiful green. I had doubts about showing it for Earth Week, because I've already shown two Bruccis, but when I saw this on the nail, my doubts disappeared. It's such a lush pretty green. And the little dose of blue keeps the color from being just another emerald green shimmer. 

   The formula was okay too. Dry time was fine, and application wasn't hard. It slid right on, and was perfectly opaque in two coats. I did three here because I was bored, though. However, I  have realized that I hate the Brucci brush...it's so damn skinny. The skinniness is good, because it means less clean up. But it's bad because it takes longer to cover each nail.

The tip for today is: Shut off the water when you aren't using it! What I mean is, when you're brushing your teeth, turn off the water while you scrub. When in the shower, turn off the water while you lather. Before going to bed or leaving home, quickly check the faucets for dripping water. And don't use the water at the highest possible pressure when you don't need to. Doing these simple things saves a tremendous amount of water from being wasted, which is important, because contrary to popular belief, water is NOT a renewable resource. If we don't use it wisely, eventually, there is not going to be enough water to go around. When this happens, life will suck butt. And animals all over the world will die. "Save some water for the fishes" is not completely a joke. Plus, nobody wants to use baby wipes to bathe themselves, sooo....let's shut off the water as often as possible, mkay?

Earth Week Day 4: Brucci Black Emerald

           HAPPY EARTH DAY!! ^_______^   
           On this, the greatest of all April days, I'm unfortunately not wearing what I really wanted to wear, due to the fact that I'd only have to take it right off for tomorrow. Which would normally be fine, but I've been really anticipating this color, and I'd like to revel in it for a bit. But that's okay, I'll show it at the end of Earth Week. 
Anywho, I'm wearing Brucci Black Emerald, which isn't a very celebratory color, but it's pretty all the same. And there are lots of pictures today.....it's a celebration, you know. 

Black Emerald is a green to copper duochrome shimmer in a blackened green base. 

Bottle shot. Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Artificial light, flash.

Sunlight, no flash. Sorry for the jank index finger...during clean up, I was practically falling asleep.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Man, this color is complex and my pictures don't begin to cover it. Looking at my nails, I think of the floor of the rainforest. It's dark down there, and everything looks black, dark green and brown. But in some places, a shaft of sunlight will filter down and illuminate the undergrowth, making it bright green until the sun moves. This polish is so much like that. 
I feel like they should have named Black Emerald Envy instead. LOL, I know that every green polish in the world is named Envy, but honestly...what's one more? And the name would be perfect for this color. Black Emerald is actually the exact color that I visualize when I say envy...it's all dark n muddy...and somehow cancerous looking. Me gusta!


The formula was okay. A little streaky but opaque on the first two coats. By the third, it was smooth and even. Dry time was fine...I used Poshe and the Essie drying drops, and went to bed about 30 minutes later. There are no wrinkles or sheet marks today, so there you have it. When I bought this, I was looking at it funny, because I wasn't sure if I would like it, but I'm glad that I did. Brucci really outdid themselves on this one.


The tip for today is: Invest in a tote bag for your groceries!
Thanks to my semi-rant on Day 1, we all know the deal with plastic. They are Satan! And buying groceries is a great way to unleash Satan upon the Earth, doncha know. Think about it. If you buy a ton of groceries, and the clerk double bags them, you can end up with as many as 20 plastic bags going home with you. I know that most people save grocery bags to reuse them, but eventually, those bags do end up in a landfill or in the ocean somewhere. It's best for them to not even leave the store. Plus, there are some stores (CVS is one, and I think Whole Foods is another) that offer discounts and reward programs for using canvas bags instead of plastic ones.
And if you regularly buy large amounts of groceries, then just get a few tote bags and one of those folding metal carts to carry them in. Problem solved!


Have a great Earth Day!! (And don't forget to hug a tree!)