Saturday, July 16, 2011

Milani Hi-Tech

     Hi guys! So as some of you know, I've been trying to clean out my stash to make room for more children for the sake of my sanity, and I'm happy to announce that I'm finally ready to have my blog sale! I made a little tab up there for that, so feel free to check it out!
On the nail polish front, today, I have Milani Hi-Tech from their 3D Holographic Collection. 

Hi-Tech is an electric lime green polish with a strong holographic effect. I know the pictures all look more celery green, and I reallyyy do not know why or how that happened, but it's brighter and more yellow than it looks here. 


Sunlight, no flash.


Natural light, no flash.


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     Okay, so since I have bombarded you with a million pictures, I'll keep the writing portion short. Hi-Tech is amazingly beautiful, and is a really good example of why you can't count drugstore polish out. The color is so bright and lovely, and the holo is uber strong....my camera dulled it, but in person, it's stunning. If you love holo greens, you gotta pick this one up.
     However, Hi-Tech's formula gave me a tiny bit of trouble. It was a little gluey feeling, and initially, I had trouble with bald spots. But after three coats, everything seemed to be okay. Next time I wear this, I'll have to try it over some kind of Aqua Base. And I used Seche Clear Base as a topcoat. It didn't dull the holo at all, so huzzah. 

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

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Hungry Asian Fender Bender

       Hello guys! For today, I have another franken from The Hungry Asian sale. This time, it's Fender Bender. 

Fender Bender is a ton of tiny lime green, fuchsia, and bright blue glitter in a clear base. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

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     Fender Bender is pretty, but it's not quite what I wanted. When worn opaque, it comes out much darker than I thought it would be and I can't see the individual colors as well as I hoped I would be able to. I do love that it's super sparkly, and I enjoy how in terms of the sparkle, you can get individual colors (like you see blue sparkle, green sparkle, etc. all at one time) but that's not quite enough to make me fall in love. Before I relinquish it to the purge pile though, I'm definitely going to try it layered over other stuff to see if I can't bring some brightness to it. 
    Fender Bender's formula wasn't bad though. It needed four coats to be opaque, but the polish went on smoothly and dried fast, without too much grit. One layer of topcoat was enough for it to be smooth and shiny. 

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

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Nina Ultra Pro Swatches

      Ahh these past few days have been such nail fail. I don't know why, but it's like every swatch and every picture is doomed to be terrible. And I found a split in my nail, which made me mad because I haven't gotten one in ages. So I think I'm just not gonna bother with my nails until Friday, and then I'll try again. In the meanwhile, I have a couple of Nina Ultra Pro colors from the backlog. 


First up, there's Never Glum Plum.


Never Glum Plum is a slightly dark purpley-grey creme. 
Sunlight, no flash.


Natural light, no flash.


Sunlight, no flash.

      lol, I kind of miss these nails. But anyway, Never Glum Plum is a great color. It's a little dark, a little smokey, a little purple-y and a little grey, all of which I like. I also think it's very flattering and chic, especially as a fall and winter mani. 
     Never Glum Plum applied well. I only needed two super smooth layers for opacity, and the formula was pleasantly thin. 

Next is Emerald City. 


Emerald City is a straightforward shimmery emerald green.
Sunlight, no flash.


Natural light, no flash.


Sunlight, no flash.


    I applied Emerald City fulling expecting to not like it. It seemed like it would be generic and a little blah, but I think I was wrong about that. In sunlight, it turned out to be much richer and deeper than I expected. However, when I look at Emerald City in comparison to other shimmery greens that I have, I probably won't want to wear it much, just because the actual color isn't as interesting as the others. So it goes in the purge pile. 
    Formula-wise, Emerald City was okay. It was a bit thin, so care was required, but it was opaque in three coats and dried quickly.


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

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Nfu-Oh 40

        For today, I have Nfu-Oh 40 to show you guys. This one is a do-over, because I've posted on it before, but those pictures really sucked butt.


Nfu-Oh 40 is a clear base, full of duochrome multi-sized flakes. The flakes show mostly shades of green and blue, although at extreme angles, I've also gotten purple out of them. And I layered Nfu-Oh 40 over Orly Star of Bombay.


Sunlight, no flash.


Natural light, no flash.


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Natural light, no flash.


Sunlight, no flash.

     I don't have too much to say about Nfu-Oh 40, except for it's awesome. The way that the greens and blues shift and dance across my nails at the slightest movement is mesmerizing, and I love that the color change is obvious at all times. Looking at my nails, I'm reminded of sea turtles. Sea turtles that have been eating radioactive waste or something, which of course is not a good thing, but if it made them glow or gave them superpowers, would be kind of cool. 
    Nfu-Oh 40 also had a really nice formula. The flake payoff was good without my needing to swirl the brush, and the base was thick enough where the flakes don't fall out of suspension, but not so thick that it was tough to apply. My only complaint is that for a layering polish, Nfu-Oh 40 dries kinda slowly, but that was remedied by a good quick-drying topcoat. And the pictures are with two layers of Nfu-Oh 40 over one coat of Star of Bombay. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a great Sunday! Ahh I can't believe the weekend is over already though.  -____-

Friday, July 8, 2011

Diamond Cosmetics Chunky Red Glitter

         So yesterday was my sister's birthday, and although the real celebration won't be until today, I still wanted to wear something sparkly and fun on my nails to celebrate the occasion. I also need to get through my Diamond Cosmetics stuff, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and wear Diamond Cosmetics Chunky Red Glitter, layered over Color Club Pretty in Platinum. 


Chunky Red Glitter is made of large and small red hex glitter in a clear base. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

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Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Chunky Red Glitter is a basic polish, but it has lots of impact. In lower light, the glitter is glowy and kind of takes on a two-toned look, where some glitter looks brighter and some looks darker. And in sunlight, there's no sparkle, but it's still pretty flashy and reflective. This particular combination kind of reminds me of chicken pox or peppermint, but I still like it, LOL. 
    Formula-wise, Chunky Red Glitter was a bit tough. The base was a little thicker than I would have liked, and to get the type of glitter payoff that I like, I needed to swirl the brush and sort of nudge the larger glitters into place. The good news is that it dries super quick and was surprisingly smooth. The pictures are with two layers of Chunky Red Glitter over two coats of Pretty in Platinum, and as always, a generous layer of topcoat to seal the deal.

And that's all for today! Thanks for reading, and have a gorgeous Friday!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Wet n Wild Wild Orchid

        Yesterday, for like the millionth time, I accidentally scratched someone. I really want long nails, but I clearly don't know how to control them, because I always scratch the hell out of myself and everyone around me. In frustration, I filed down my nails (wayyy more than I meant to) and it made me sad. To cheer myself up, I put on Wet n Wild Wild Orchid. 

Wild Orchid is a ton of small, square holographic and silver glitter, floating in a deep violet jelly base. There's also some electric blue shimmer running around in there. 


Sunlight, no flash.


Natural light, no flash.


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Sunlight, no flash.


     Wild Orchid is such a pretty color. With the holo glitter, the base color, and the blue shimmer, it's like if Sally Hansen Grape Going and China Glaze Fairy Dust had a baby! And it was only a dollar, which kind of makes it even better-looking lol. 
      However, Wild Orchid's formula was a bit annoying. It needed four coats of color for full opacity and depth, and it looked kind of rough without topcoat because of the glitter. On the upside, it dried pretty quickly and that made up for the four coat thing. 
     
And completely unrelated to this polish, E.L.F. is having a 70% off sale, starting from 1:00 PM EST and going until 2:10 PM EST. This is big because they made the maximum discount $100, instead of their regular $7.50. 
The discount code is 70FOR70, so if you want to try E.L.F. or need to stock up on favorites, there ya go!

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
P.S. I know that I mentioned possibly having some good news, but that didn't happen. Soon though, I promise! ^_^