Sinful Colors Swatches (Summer Color Edition)

       Yesterday, I was going through my drawers looking for stuff to purge and realized that I have a bunch of Sinful Colors polishes, but haven't seriously worn a single one. I don't know why...they just never really cry out to me. But if for no other reason than to know which ones I wanted to purge and which ones to keep, I decided to swatch them. I won't be posting them all at once, so for today, I have All About You, Unicorn, and Rise and Shine.  

All About You is a clear base with lots of flat, irregularly sized antique gold and copper shimmer flakes in it. 

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   This is the oogliest thing I've seen on my nails in a long time. Like after I was all done, I looked at my nails and said aloud, "DAMN this shit is ooglay." I can't even stand how much I hate this right now. It'll probably look much better on someone with a different skin tone or layered, but by itself and opaque, I rebuke and refuse All About You.

    The formula was okay though..it was rather sheer (pictures are with four coats) and the base was a bit too thick, but besides that, no problems were had. There are bubbles, but that's because of the ceiling fan. 

Unicorn is a soft, buttery yellow creme.

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     Even though Unicorn is yellow, I needed to buy it...I don't know. I saw it and just needed to have it. And I really don't regret the purchase, because I love the color, both in general and on me. It's a very wearable and sweet color, and gives me hope for yellow. But despite my love for the color, I can say with 100% certainty that I will never ever wear it again, thanks to the nightmare that was the formula. It took four painfully streaky coats to look like something, and I really can't put myself through that again. But if anyone can recommend a similar shade with a more reasonable formula, I'd love to hear about it! I really do like the color. 

Rise and Shine is a bright teal green creme base packed with crystalline microshimmer. The shimmer shows silver, green, and blue, although you'll probably have to enlarge the pictures to see it at all. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

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    Love Rise and Shine! The base color is very fun and pretty, and the shimmer is fantastic. In sunlight, it twinkles so beautifully and reminds me a bit of BB Couture's signature glitter, just crushed up really finely. 
It also went on quite smoothly...the pictures are with three coats of color, and they dried pretty quickly. The only thing about Rise and Shine is that it dried matte, like a neon. So topcoat is definitely necessary to get the most out of it. 


And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a fun fun Friday!
P.S. My giveaway ends today, so don't forget to enter! n_n

Icing Ice Queen

      I know that yesterday was the last day of May, but whatever, I'm still gonna post one last (that initially came out "lazy"; ooh freudian slip) grey in the spirit of Brain Tumor Awareness month. Here's Icing Ice Queen. 

Ice Queen is a slightly dark grey creme with strong blue undertones.

Sunlight, no flash.

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     Ice Queen is nice. It's kind of dark, which I tend to favor over its lighter brethren. And the strong blue-tone in it helps it be more interesting. 

     However, I had some trouble with the formula...I needed three coats for opacity, which is normal. But the Ice Queen was so liquidy and thin that it was annoying to put it on. And the brush was really hard, so it made those annoying divots in the polish unless I used a ridiculously light hand during application. I don't know if that's normal for Icing bottles, because I only have two from this brand, but that's what I experienced with this polish. There's the option of just pouring it into another bottle, but Ice Queen is just not that cute to be doing alladat. So it will have to be put in the purge pile. 

And as a little reminder, my current giveaway ends on Friday, so if you'd like to get in on that, please get your entries in soon! Thanks for reading, and have a great day! n_n

OPI Bring on the Bling

       So this past weekend was my mommy's 50th birthday, and to celebrate, our family threw her a big party. Such an occasion requires serious glittah, plus gold was one of the theme colors for the party, so I went with OPI Bring on the Bling, from the Burlesque Collection.

Bring on the Bling is a ton of multi-colored, multi-shaped, and multi-sized glitter in a clear base. There's mostly   cool-toned gold glitter, but there is also blue, orange, fuchsia, green and silver in there too.

Sunlight, no flash.

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    Bring on the Bling is awesomee. It's pretty much a gold version of Mad as a Hatter, so it's got bling, pops of color and general insanity. But one thing about Bring on the Bling that I really liked was the rather unique shade of gold that OPI chose as the main color. It's kind of pale and almost a little caramelly, and in the bottle, I was kind of scared of it. But on the nail, it's really quite pretty and flattering. So yeah, me gusta!

   The formula for this polish was typical glitter bomb fare, in that it went on fairly smoothly and dried quickly. I used four coats of color for total coverage and two layers of topcoat for a really smooth finish. So yeah, it was kind of alot of work, but that didn't annoy me. What did annoy me was the terrible wear I got out of Bring on the Bling. Just two days in, and there are already chips galore. OPI glitters never wear well on me anyway, but it's still pisses me off when this happens. -___-

And that's all from me today!! Thanks for reading, and if you celebrate Memorial Day, I hope you're enjoying it! If not, then I wish you a great Monday all the same. n_n

A-England Merlin

A few weeks ago, I was having a crummy time and decided to make myself feel better by spending all the money I had doing some shopping.  When the debris settled and the smoke cleared, I found myself with some new children, courtesy of A-England. The one that I'm going to show you today is called Merlin and is part of the Mythicals Collection. 

Merlin is a bunch of tiny, titanium silver rectangular and square glitter in a clear base. 

Sunlight, no flash.

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     Merlin is so pretty. The concept (a dense silver glitter in a clear base) is not the most unique, but the shade of silver as well as the shapes and sizes of glitter used really help set it apart. They also give Merlin a really intriguing effect, where it's kind of delicate but quite solid at the same time. One thing to take note of about Merlin though is that the glitter doesn't quiteee sparkle. It does a bit, but mostly the glitter is reflective. I would prefer if it sparkled for real, but what's there is enough to satisfy me.

    Formula-wise, Merlin was fine. The three coats that you see in the pictures went on smoothly and dried pretty quick, although not as quick as most glitters that I have. On the upside, Merlin only needed one layer of topcoat to be smooth, so yay!

And with that, I am all done for today! Have a happy happy Friday and thanks for reading! n_n

Nubar Purple Beach

         Firstly, I'd like to take a quick minute to say hello to all the new followers! There are now over 300 of you, which is like...flabbergasting, man. So thanks for coming to my little corner of the interwebz! n_n 

Okey doke, now down to business, which today is Nubar Purple Beach.

Purple Beach is a wildly multichromatic purple polish. It shows a smokey shade of purple mostly, but you'll also get gold, silver, bronze, a hint of blue, and a couple of shades of green. Yeah, this is serious business. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

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       I'm not going to say much about Purple Beach. Although the pictures don't really do the polish justice, hopefully, they give you a good idea about what a fabulous color this is. The duochrome shift is so obvious without the need for finger cirque du soleil or magical lighting, and even the base purple color has this lovely hazy, nebulous quality to it. Nubar did a fantastic job here. 

     Purple Beach's formula was a bit thin but not uncontrollable and the pigmentation was okay. I used three coats of color and a layer of topcoat for full opacity and some shine. 

And that's all for today! Thank you for reading and have a most beautiful day! ^_^

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. 

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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! 

Diamond Cosmetics Concrete Jungle

          It's been a while since my last Brain Tumor Awareness grey, so behold Diamond Cosmetics Concrete Jungle. 

Concrete Jungle is a dove grey creme, with a bit of a blue cast.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

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      Concrete Jungle is beautiful. I love the hint of blue in the shade, and I really love how soft and fuzzy the finish is. It's like an adorable kitten or a cashmere sweater. 

      Diamond Cosmetics also did a great job with Concrete Jungle's formula. I only needed two coats for opacity, and they applied without a hitch. Dry time was also quite good. I really do wonder how they manage to make these apply so nicely. 

And with that, I am all done for today! Enjoy your Apocalypse-free Sunday! n_n