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! ^_^

Sally Hansen Distressed Denim

    After enjoying Diamond Cosmetics Hot Summer Pink by itself for a bit, I topped it with Sally Hansen Distressed Denim, from their recently released Crackle Overcoat Collection. 

Distressed Denim is a cracking (haha I almost wrote crackhead) cobalt blue jelly.

Sunlight, no flash.

lmao at how my skin goes back to normal with the crackle shielding some of the pink insanity. 

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I really like Distressed Denim. The bold shade of blue is really pretty to look at, and I am loving the jelly finish. Obviously, the jelly does have its limitations...over darker colors, Distressed Denim completely disappears because it's so transparent. But it looks amazing over sparkly things...I tried it over A-England Merlin and it was like O__O. Hopefully, I can show you it with glitter in a future post.

    In terms of formula, Distressed Denim is tricky tricky. The tips that I can give are to shake it up every few fingers, load a little more on the brush than you think you will need (because Distressed Denim is thin and the brush is skinny as hell), and to not worry about correcting bald spots or unevenness. And don't give up after one try! The first time I tried this, I was like wtf is this shit because it didn't really do anything. But after practicing with it a bit and getting a feel for how to apply it, it actually worked really nicely. 

  And the last thing is that I would not recommend that you buy Distressed Denim (or any of the Overcoats really) at full price. I paid $7.99 for this one at Walgreens and it's not worth that much, partially because it's not foolproof. So wait for a sale or coupons or something and you'll probably be much happier. 

And that's all from me today!! Thanks for reading, and enjoy your Saturday!

NARS Zulu

        The weather cleared up a bit, so I was able to take a few minutes and get some pictures of the polish that I've been wearing for the past few days. Yay! This is NARS Zulu, from their 2010 Vintage Nail Collection.

Zulu is a blackened forest green jelly. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

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    I've worn Zulu about five times since I bought it (which is alot for me) and I still am so enamored with it. Between the depth and darkness of the shade and the glossy, squishy finish, it's so uber sexy and I cannot stop looking at my hands when I have this on. The only issue with Zulu is that in almost any light, the wearer will be the only one who can tell that it's actually green. And indoors, even I had trouble convincing myself of its greenness. So I'd probably only recommend Zulu to green fiends, NARS fans, or people with serious lemmings. If you're none of the above and are just searching for a pretty dark green, I think you'd be happier with Illamasqua Rampage, because it's actually...green. Ha, I said green like forty times in the past three sentences. 

   Formula-wise, Zulu was okay. It was opaque but a bit streaky in two coats, and if you want a polish that actually reads green, that would be your best bet. I ended up going with three coats, which knocked out alot of the green color but resulted in a perfectly smooth finish. Zulu dried quickly and glossy, but I went with a layer of Seche Vite on top to really give me that wet sealskin look that I like. 

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

Zoya Lulu + Axolotls!!

     Today's animal is kind of weird, because people breed them for pet-keeping and research purposes, so it's probably not actually going to disappear from the Earth altogether. But the wild type of it is very endangered. Meet the ridiculously adorable and Pokemon-esque Axolotl, also known as the Mexican Walking Fish. And I guess people who breed them as pets call them Water Dragons:

They don't all look like that...they can also be golden, grey, black, brown, and olive green, but I think this kind is the cutest.

But anyway, these lovable little guys are amphibians native to Mexico, and are friendly and gentle. That's why people like to keep them as pets...they're like goldfish, but are cooler, smarter, and have better personalities. However, they are dying out at a rapid pace in the wild, due to water pollution in their habitats and intrusive species eating all their babies. 

  I didn't have a color that would match the Axolotl exactly, but the closest thing I had was Zoya Lulu:

Lulu is a pale peach jelly.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      Lulu is beautiful. The color is demure without boring and pale without being stark. I also love the soft, dreamy, and appropriately squishy texture of the finish. This is actually the kind of finish that I would have preferred for Diamond Cosmetics Tranquility.

     However, Lulu's formula was pretty bad. It was very thin and sheer, and I had trouble with streaking and uneveness. I ended up needing four coats (and even five on some fingers) to get enough coverage and smoothness for my satisfaction. Bleh.

And that's all! Thanks for reading!

Moah Greens! (For Less Green)

   Yep, more greens. Because they are wonderful and warm my heart. ^_^


First is Sally Hansen Jumpin' Jade.

 Jumpin' Jade is a deep jade green base with lighter green shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I purchased Jumpin Jade to avoid buying MAC Jade Dragon, and although I'm fairly sure that they aren't exact dupes, I am well satisfied, yea verily. The color is so pretty and the polish has this beautiful opulence and glow to it that I really like. My only real complaint about it would be the terrible name....they couldn't do better than Jumpin' Jade? Forreal though? :/

   Since this guy is part of the Insta-Dri line, the formula is fairly thick and really well-pigmented. I only needed two coats for full coverage, and really, someone could probably get away with one coat. It also dried really fast, although it needed topcoat for shine. 

Next is Wet n Wild Morbid. 

Morbid is a really dark, kind of mossy, blue-based green with lighter green and blue shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Morbid is amazing. It's so...cancerous and wicked looking, and although cancer and wickedness are normally awful things, when they meet polish, they become beautiful. As well as the base color, I love the shimmer...it catches the light so nicely when it's sunny and glows from the base when it's not. It's just a shame that Morbid is part of the Craze line, because it means that you only get a little bit of this awesome color at a time and it's in that terrible bottle with that horrible cap. I wish they could make it part of the core line and put it in a normal bottle.

     Despite the awkward application from trying to maneuver that stupid, stubby brush and round cap, Morbid's formula was surprisingly easy to work with. It went on easily and smoothly, and the pigmentation was great. I used two coats of color and one layer of topcoat in the pictures, and the coverage is perfect. Add in the ultra-cheap price and the availability of Morbid, and I really think that you can't go wrong with this deliciously macabre shade. 

Finally, we have New York Summer Amaranth. 

Amaranth is a bright grass green jelly. It was hard to capture the brightness in the pictures though, so it's really brighter than what you see. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Amaranth puts such a smile on my face. It's just such an adorable and cheery shade of green, I think it looks awesome on me (yeahhh conceited moment) and of course, I love the fun squishy finish.
     Also fun was the formula on Amaranth...despite it being a jelly, I only needed three coats to get the coverage in the pictures, and the polish applied smoothly with no streaks, dragging or other such tomfoolery. The only issue I faced with Amaranth was that it dried matte, but that easily rectified with a layer of topcoat. 


   This particular grouping of polishes may seem random, but I chose to put them all together because they're all nice and cheap! None of these polishes are over $5, yet all of them are beautiful colors with great formulas, proving that you can celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a cute nail color on any budget. n_n


And that's all I've got for tonight! Thanks for reading!! 

Cult Nails Living Water

     Today, I've got on Living Water, from Cult Nails. And I apologize in advance for any random copper sparklies that you see...somehow, bits of my eyeshadow ended up in the pictures. I have no idea how or why.  -_____-

Living Water is a blackened and murky blue jelly base with lots of small sky blue and emerald green square glitter.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I love Living Water...it's such a beautiful and unique color. It was conceived by Tierney, from Tier's Thoughts, and her inspiration was phosphorescence in the ocean, which completely comes across in this polish. The base is really dark blue, to the point where it reads black most of the time, much like ocean water at night. And the glitter isn't the kind that sparkles, rather, it glows and flashes from the depths of the base. It looks better in low light than it does in sunlight, which is a tad bit disappointing, given the fact that spring is just around the corner. But when cold and dark weather returns, I'll definitely be reaching for Living Water again. I wouldn't call it a must have color for everyone, but it's surely something special. If you like glitter and/or blue polish, and don't mind the price, I do recommend picking it up. And you also get to support another nail blogger's dream, which is nice. 

   Living Water also boasts an excellent formula. It was super easy to apply, with no dragging, streaking, or other such things. It also had the perfect pigmentation, only needing two coats to achieve full opacity and depth. However, it dried really matte and gritty, so it will definitely need lots of topcoat. I went with a layer of Gelous, a layer of China Glaze stinky stuff, and then a layer of Seche Vite, because the stinky stuff wasn't shiny enough. So also make sure to use a high quality topcoat, because Living Water didn't give me the polish nirvana that I was looking for until I busted out the SV. 

  ETA: Ooh, I forgot to mention that Living Water is a pricey polish. It's $10, and while I personally can see the price reflected in the color and the quality of the polish, that's still mad money for a bottle of nail polish. So think before you buy, kay?

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day! ^_^