St. Patrick Day Greens!!

Hi guys! So tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, and I have been wearing greens all week to celebrate. Like I've said in the past, the holiday doesn't mean anything to me personally, but I just like to indulge in it. So to get everyone in the spirit, I thought it would be fun to make some green spam.


First one is Diamond Cosmetics Never so Evergreen.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

    Never so Evergreen is a smoky, faded hunter green, with lots of golden shimmer in it. It's really beautiful and unique, and I love how it looks on my nails. The application was also super easy...two coats of color and a layer of topcoat was all I needed for it to look perfect. 

Next is Zoya Yara.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Artificial light, with flash.

    Yara was a weird one to capture. It's a dirty olive green with lots of grey in it, and my camera had a hard time balancing those. I guess the true color is right between the ottlite ones and the flash one. But anyway, I wasn't expecting to like Yara very much and really only bought it because it reminded me of one of my favorite queens from RuPaul's Drag Race, Yara Sofia. But when I put it on, I really did like it. The shimmer is really visible and looks great against the base, and the shade of olive itself is fairly flattering, because it doesn't have too much yellow. Formula was also really easy...I only needed two coats of color and one of topcoat. 

Next is Nina Ultra Pro Salsa!

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash

   Salsa is a bold and slightly deep kelly green semi-jelly. The shade of green is really fun and punchy but I think my favorite part of this polish is the finish. It has the opacity and ease of application of a creme, but the jiggly quality and shine of a jelly, and with the shade of green, it makes me happy lol. It just reminds me of springtime and makes me want to skip and dance. I used three coats of polish and a layer of topcoat for the pictures, and Salsa went on pretty smoothly and easily. 

Next is OPI Damone Roberts 1968.

Artificial light, with flash.

Artificial light, with flash.

    Damone Roberts 1968 is a really smooth and creamy mint green creme. It has a good bit of grey, some brown, and a hint of yellow in there too, all of which soften it up and make it much easier to wear with my skin tone. I love how it looks kind of vintage-y but still really modern, and am so glad that I snagged a bottle when it was still available. However, application was tough on this one...I needed four layers of color to get it even and streak-free, and I had to be really careful to apply with a light hand, or there were these annoying divots. So it wasn't fun, but definitely worth all the pain in the end. 

And last, but definitely not least, is Nfu-Oh 569. 

Ottlite, no flash.

Artificial light, with flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

    Nfu-Oh 569 is a blackened forest green jelly. It's known as being a dupe for NARS Zulu, which I guess is accurate, and as such, I lurvee it. It's so sexy and rich, and I love the way that it shines. Wearing it, I feel wicked, but in a good way lol. Application was also pretty easy. I used three layers of polish and a layer of topcoat, and although it kind of took a long time to dry, the polish itself went on fairly well. A little streaky on the first coat, but the next two fixed it. Incidentally, if you are in the market for Zulu, I would actually recommend picking up this one instead. You get more product for less, and Fabulous Street's shipping is much better than NARS'. 

And those are all the greens I have for ya'll today! 

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone has an amazing St. Patrick's Day!! ^_^

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.

Sunlight, no flash.

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!!

Zoya Holly

       Hi guys! Like five hundred years ago, I posted Rina from Zoya's Gems and Jewels Collection. Today, I have her companion color, Holly. Also, excuse my awkward nubbins...I'm trying to sort them out, but my nails (not so) secretly hate me. -__-

Holly is a pretty straightforward green metallic shimmer. The name for it escapes me right now, but it's the same shade of green as a really lush Christmas tree. 

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Holly is quite pretty. The metallicy finish of it makes it look really smooth and sexy, and the shimmer gives it a nice bit of depth and richness. The shade of green is also nice to look at, and very appropriate for the season. However, I find it kind of hard to be excited about Holly, because it does feel a little generic. I can understand why Zoya would make it, because it does round out their lineup nicely, but because I have so many shimmery greens already, this one doesn't quite stand out for me. But if you don't have many greens and need to fill a shimmery-green-shaped hole in your collection, you could do way worse for yourself than Holly. 

    Holly's formula was okay. It needed three layers to be opaque, but they dried quickly and went on with no incident. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Friday!

Zoya Rina

     Hi guys! With Thanksgiving behind us, the next big holiday is Christmas, which is also my favorite holiday!! It also helps that there is always an abundance of glitter polishes released around this time, and I am the biggest glitter whore ever. One of those collections this year was Zoya's Gems and Jewels Collection, and for you all today, I have Rina from that collection.

Rina is made of emerald green bar and square microglitter, as well as a sprinkling of holographic bar glitter. The holo glitter isn't too obvious, but if you look really close, you can see it.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Artificial light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

This picture shows a little more of the holo glitter. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       I've never been a big fan of bar glitter, but Rina has totally made a believer out of me. It's so pretty and sparkly, and I love the richness of the shade of green. It looks like sparkling pine needles in a magical forest. Or tinsel, if you wanna be boring about it. Either way, it's gorgeous and absolutely screams Christmas! My only complaint is that I wish the holographic glitter was a little more prominent, because when I do see it, I love it, but I almost never see it. But that's a minor thing. 

       Rina's formula was pretty good. It was opaque in three coats, which is what you see in the pictures, and it dried pretty quickly and smoothly. I ended up using two layers of top coat, but I think it would have done fine with two. The only thing is that it looks kind of patchy before it gets opaque, so I definitely would not want to layer this over anything, except for maybe another green. In that way, I'd say Rina is a little...limited, I guess. And that's not fun. Also, it was messy to apply...it gunked up alot around the bottle neck and after I finished polishing, I had to go back and file the sharp bits of glitter off my tips. But once all that was done, it was totally worth it.

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

Color Club Twiggie

   Hi guys! It's been a really messed up week for me, but it's finally over and I am relieved. In celebration, I thought I'd show you all something cheerful and bright today, so I chose Color Club Twiggy from the Poptastic Collection. 

Twiggie is a super bright, bordering on neon green creme. The shade of green is kind of tough to describe..I guess I'd call it a cross between mint and lime. That also sounds like it would make a delicious cold beverage.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

   I really like Twiggie. It's bright and fun, and I love how unique it is. However, I did find that it was a little bit stark and chalky against my skin. I would have preferred if it were just a smidgen softer so it could be more wearable for me, but I'm still going to keep it. 

   Formula-wise, Twiggy was tough but not impossible. It went on pretty smooth for the most part and the pigmentation was okay, but I found that I had trouble getting it to level out around the edges, which is always very frustrating for me. If you're a better polisher though, you may not have that problem. It also dried to a waxy finish, so you're gonna need topcoat on this one. Pictures are with three coats of polish and one layer of topcoat.

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

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!