Essie Haute as Hello

       So quick post today, because I need to go run errands and if I don't leave soon, I will be too lazy to leave ever. If all goes as planned, hopefully, I can have some good news for you guys tomorrow. But for today, I have Essie Haute as Hello from last year's summer collection.

Haute as Hello is a pale but bright peachy-coral creme. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

  Haute as Hello is beautiful! In the bottle, it doesn't really look like all that, but on the nail, it was so much better. The color looked more interesting...like more orange-y, and instead of the soft pastel coral I was expecting, it was shockingly, almost blindingly bright. It actually made me think of a radioactive RBL Patrick Starfish (RIP).
   However, I did have some issues with the formula. It wasn't too bad, but it was streaky and didn't level itself well. Even after four coats, there was still some streaks, but the topcoat helped smooth those over a bit.
   Even though the formula was troublesome, I really like the color on me (plus the name is too cute), so Haute as Hello can stay. 


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

Essie Lollipop

        I noticed that it's been a while since I've shown a red around here, so today, I've got Essie Lollipop, which I believe is a core collection polish. 

       

Lollipop is a cheery cherry red jelly. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I only bought Lollipop because I couldn't find Jelly Apple in the store, but I still like it. It's a bright, true, and sweet shade of red, and since it reminds me of a Jolly Rancher, I suppose it's very accurately named too. The only thing about it is that I feel like it's kind of boring-pretty, you know? Like it looks good, but it's not gonna entertain me for the day, even with the jelly finish. For that reason, I'll probably use it for my toes and continue looking for Jelly Apple for my fingers. 

     One nice thing about Lollipop though is that it has a perfect formula. I used three butter-like coats for a relatively opaque finish, and dry time wasn't too terrible. I did have to apply it over a milky base coat though, because my nails are horrifically stained in some spots (despite my efforts to remove them) and it showed up right through the red, even after multiple layers. So if you also have bad staining, that's something to consider. 

On another note, I was finally able to finish counting the entries for the Lady of the Lake giveaway this morning. The random number generator selected Kris of My Lucid Bubble fame as the winner, so a big congratulations goes to her, and much thanks goes to everyone who participated. n_n

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

Essie Midnight Cami + Finger Paints Sapphire Shimmer

        So I'm still wearing my crazy hand mani today. I'm a little mad, because I forewent doing my nails + I stayed up till like 3 am to finish my assignment. Then five hours later, I'm dragging myself into class, when I find out that my teacher extended the deadline to the end of the week. Because half the class didn't do it. 

Omfg...

 I like my teacher, but I was sooo mad at her. Since when do you reward people for not doing their homework?! But on a positive note, I have a job interview lined up for this week! I don't know if it'll amount to anything in the end, but it's the furthest I've gotten since I've started looking, so I am full of hope. But enough blah blah about my life and woes. Onto the pitchas.

This is one layer of Finger Paints Sapphire Shimmer over two coats of Essie Midnight Cami.  

Sapphire Shimmer is composed of small round glitter and larger hex glitter in a sheer cobalt blue base. The glitter is silver and holo, and there is a ton of it.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       It's not the most innovative thing, but I love this combo so so much!! Sapphire Shimmer's glitter is disgustingly holo...it makes me sick with joy. ^_^ The flashes of color and silver stand out really nicely from Midnight Cami's dark blue base, and the whole look reminds me of outer space. I know...lots of polishes look like outer space. But this really does look awesome, lol.  In lower light, the holo calms down a bit, so the glitter looks more silver. But there are still rainbow flashes, so basically, it's never boring. I was actually walking to the library last night (to do my freaking assignment), and even with just the streetlights, there was still mad bling and rainbows.  And in sunlight...ahhh it's absolutely dazzling. The shimmer from Midnight Cami shimmers and the glitter from Sapphire Shimmer glitters and it just makes my heart sing. My camera was even nice enough to let me make a little video:

Ahh you like my Easy Mac background, no? 

   I'm ready for my nails to look like a normal person's again, so I'm looking forward to sitting down with some nail polish remover later tonight. But at the same time, I'm gonna be sorry to see my left hand go. However, it did get me thinking that maybe I should stop being such a punk and try to franken an actual nail polish that looks like this. If I do, I'm not gonna use Sapphire Shimmer because I only got one bottle and they don't make this stuff no more. Which sucks...why does Finger Paints discontinue all the good stuff? But I'll try to find something with similar glitter and go from there. 

  And that's all I've got for today!  Have a great night, guys!!

Essie Midnight Cami

         Ahh my nails look so crazy today. On my right hand, I'm still wearing OPI DS Tapestry, which incidentally wears great! It survived hair-washing day perfectly intact, which is no mean feat. On my left hand, I'm wearing Essie Midnight Cami, from the Cuddle with Color collection. Ohoho, try saying that one five times fast. ^_^  I was just playing with it, but I got caught up doing other stuff, and somehow woke up this morning with it still on my fingers. ;_; 

      

Midnight Cami is a blackened navy blue base with lighter blue shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

I don't know why this picture is so crooked.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Midnight Cami is a pretty color. It's definitely not unique, and I wouldn't call it a must-have, but it's pretty nonetheless. In most lower lighting, it will probably only look blue to the person wearing it and maybe a more observant passerby. To everyone else, it will be black. However, in the sun, the shimmer is on fire and Midnight Cami is unmistakably blue. Personally, I like it...it makes me think of the deepest parts of the ocean. 

    Formula-wise, Midnight Cami was quite nice. It was very well-pigmented, and went opaque in two coats. A careful person may even be able to manage one thick coat. It also went on very smoothly and dried pretty quickly with the aid of some topcoat. My only complaint is that removing it will probably be a royal pain. Just cleaning up was hard because of the staining, as evidenced by my still blue cuticles. 

    Another good thing about Midnight Cami is that it makes an awesome base for most glittery and flaky topcoats. I like to layer glitter on top of black, but Midnight Cami is sexier than a black creme, easier to apply than the ones I have at the moment, and it allows glitters and flakies to stand out just as well. I actually did layer some glitter over this, but I'm gonna save that for tomorrow, because this post is already kind of long and I have a million pictures. 

  And with that, I'm gonna run along. Got two exams on Thursday and an assignment due tomorrow, so I have more than enough homework and not nearly enough time to get it all done. x_x Wishing you all a wonderful Monday!