Revlon Emerald City

     Hi guys! I was organizing my computer files and found these pictures hanging out, so I thought it would be good to post them. If for no other reason than to signify that I'm still alive LOL. So here's Revlon Emerald City!

Emerald City is a forest green base with tons of emerald green shimmer, all in a semi-matte finish.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Emerald City features a pretty and rich shade of green, and I always love matte shimmers. What I don't like is the waxy finish. I know that some people prefer their mattes to have a hint of shine, but I love mine chalky and dry looking. No shine at all. With Emerald City, I'd have to apply either a matte or shiny topcoat, because I wouldn't be able to just wear it on its own. And since I generally reach for mattes when I'm pressed for time or energy, the need for topcoat totally defeats the purpose.

   Formula-wise, Emerald City was interesting because objectively, it was fine. Went on smoothly, became opaque in about three coats, and dried fairly fast. But for a matte, it was kind of terrible because I expect my mattes to be much more opaque and to dry almost instantly. With Emerald City, there was an actual period of waiting. Like about thirty minutes before it was completely dry and undentable, without the use of topcoat. 

   So while I like the color, Emerald City has to go. I like my mattes convenient and this one is5 kind of not.

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

P.S. I haven't forgotten that I promised you guys a giveaway. It's coming, I just need some time to get everything ready. ^_^

Revlon Mistletoe (Part 2)

    Hi guys! A while ago, I wore Revlon Mistletoe from their new holiday collection and hated it. It was gross and ugly and I just did not like it at all. I couldn't return it because I lost the receipt, (-____-) so I just added some thinner to it and gave it another go. Here's how it went:

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

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Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I didn't have the textural issues again, so it turned out much better. Besides adding the thinner, I made sure to wait like five minutes between coats this time, and I guess both of those helped out. But I still don't like Mistletoe...it still looks a bit on the flat side to me, and the color is a so muddled and uninspiring. But I've learned my lesson...no more impulse buys and no more losing receipts. x_x

But that's all from me today. 

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Saturday!!

Strange Layering Stuff....

    Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday guys!! I hope you all had amazing Thanksgivings

, with lots of love, food and fun. I had a good one...I ended up doing a good chunk of the cooking, but it was fun and delicious in the end. And it's so nice to be away from school, I can't even explain. For today, I have that Facets of Fuchsia layering experiment that I mentioned at the end of that post. I put one layer of Diamond Cosmetics Chunky Red Glitter on top, and here's how it came out!

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

    So, like I said, I think it came out a little strange. I don't dislike it, but it just looked funny to me. Especially up close...the red glitter is just sitting on top of the purple and it just looks...funny. Maybe I would get more of the look I expected by frankening the two of these. But I do think it looks kind of cool, especially in lower light,  because the red glitter really pops out. 

And with that, I am all done for today!! I hope everyone has an awesome and fun Black Friday!  I know that I need a coat, and some new hair products, and I'll probably get in on the e.l.f. sale going on today. What are you guys gonna buy? ^_^

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

Hi guys!! Long time, no see right? School has been kicking the living shit out of me, but thank goodness break is around the corner and then the semester is almost over. Anyway, for today, I have Revlon's Facets of Fuchsia. Yess, I know that everyone has seen it already, but I only just got around to wearing it, so yeah. 

Facets of Fuchsia is fuchsia large and small hex glitter, suspended in a black jelly base. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      Facets of Fuchsia is nice! It's simple but looks pretty and the colors work well together. However, it's definitely not as eye-catching as it ought  to be. With it being a dupe for DL's Bad Romance, I immediately started mentally comparing it to my other DL glitters and they are way sparklier. Maybe Revlon used a lower quality glitter or maybe Bad Romance is just not as sparkly as its brethren (in which case, I'm glad I held out on it), but either way, I'm a bit disappointed in that aspect of the polish. But  besides that, I liked it. And I love that it saved me some good money. 

     Facets of Fuchsia had a good formula. It went on smoothly, the glitter wasn't problematic to apply or spread evenly, and it dried pretty quickly. However, it did need extra topcoat...I only used one because I was running short on time, but it really could have done with two or three. I also did some layering over this, so stay tuned for that!

*Spoiler alert: It didn't turn out awesome.*

And with that, I am all done for today! Thanks for reading (and for sticking with me even though I've been the worst blogger in life lately) and have an awesome weekend!! 

Revlon Mistletoe

       Hi guys! Today, I have the nail blues. Not only did I break a nail and have to nubbinate them all, but I am also wearing a polish color that is displeasing and highly disappointing to me. Here's Mistletoe from Revlon's new Spice it Up Collection.

Mistletoe is a blackened green creme base packed with green and gold microshimmer, as well as larger silver and gold flecks.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

   I fell crazy in love with Mistletoe in the store, and while I was applying it, I was still excited. But when it dried on the nail?

     

     It just looked like a sludgy mess to me, and lost quite a bit of the sparkle from the green and gold shimmer. To be fair, it does have its flashes of prettiness, but most of the time, it just looks uninteresting and flat. And to make matters worse, it has this gross visual texture. I can't really feel it when I touch it with my fingers, but it looks...bumpy and ripply, even with multiple layers of topcoat. Honestly, it reminds me of diseased toad skin, and I think I want to take it back to the store and get my $6.29 back. I already have Edyta, which is similar but prettier, and at least it actually reads green.

   Mistletoe was okay to apply though. The formula is thick and well-pigmented, so I only needed two coats for full opacity. It also did the Top Speed name justice and dried quickly. I don't know what to do about the texture though...two layers of topcoat didn't make it smooth enough, and I don't believe in using more than that on something that won't pay off. 

If you have Mistletoe, what do you think of it? I don't see too many reviews of it up, so I'm not sure if I'm crazy or if this is really as terrible as I think it is.

But anyway, that's all from me today. Thanks for reading, and have a great Monday!

Revlon Starry Pink

    For today, I have another pink for breast cancer awareness month. This time, it's Revlon Starry Pink from their fall Expressionist Collection.  

Starry Pink is a super pale baby pink jelly base with lots of large and small silver hex glitter.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

   Starry Pink is really cute, dreamy, and soft. It reminds me of when I was a kid and used to pretend to be a princess in a castle in the sky. Yeah...I've kind of been a loser since birth, but that's okay. The only bad thing about Starry Pink is that it only really looks good at one or two coats. Anything more started looking kind of gross and lumpy, so going forward, I'll just save this one for layering. 

   Formula-wise, it's the same thing. Starry Pink went on fine for the first two coats, but around the third and fourth, it started feeling goopy and draggy on the nail. I waited between coats, but it was still like that...maybe I should have waited longer? Idk. But anyway, the pictures are with four coats of polish and two of topcoat.

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

 (Icon courtesy of  lizbot)

Revlon Perplex

           My original plan for today was to show you guys Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne. I'd been wearing it since Monday, waiting for the weather to improve so I could get some decent pictures. But yesterday in CVS, I saw something that I imagined would be of greater interest to some of you (plus it intrigued me), so I scooped it up. Meet Revlon Perplex. 

Perplex is a smoky, greyed-out purple creme with a very subtle light violet shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Okay, so clearly, this is supposed to be Revlon's take on Chanel's smash hit Paradoxal. Now, I understand that this is great for all us poor (or stingy) folks who can't (or won't) spend $23 on a polish. I also understand that it behooves Revlon to market Perplex as the second coming of Paradoxal. But at the same time, I have to shake my head a little when one polish company so blatantly mimics another. A similar shade, a similar sounding name with a similar meaning, and even a display that advertises "this season's "IT SHADE" for less" is just so...extra. It really didn't need to be all of that, Revlon. 

    But that aside, I do like Perplex. It's quite pretty and fall-appropriate, although I wish the shimmer was more apparent. And judging from swatches that I've seen, it does bear a striking resemblance to Paradoxal. I can't say if they're exactly the same, because I don't have Paradoxal to compare, but I can say that any lemming I may have had for Paradoxal is dead and gone. This is close enough for me, and the price is quite right.

     On the issue of formula and application, Perplex was actually pretty good.The formula is very well-pigmented, goes on smoothly, and is wearable in one thick coat. For illustrative purposes, this is one thick coat of Perplex, sans topcoat:

See? Nice and opaque. 

 I ended up going over this with another thin coat of color for security and out of habit, but it wasn't necessary. Dry time was also extremely good. On the other side of the coin, I had a tough time controlling the formula...it seemed runny, which wasn't much fun. But Revlon's brushes tend to be thin, which will help not to get it all over your cuticles and stuff. 

  

 So, what do you guys think? Will you be getting Perplex?