SinfulColors Holiday 2011 Wish Collection: Sugar Sugar

SinfulColors Sugar Sugar (2 coats)

Why does Sunday have to come so fast when the week drags by? I had a pretty relaxing weekend and didn't do anything really big. I've started up Chinese Food Sunday again because this really good place opened up near us. Of course, we also have Pizza Friday which can be delivered, frozen or made fresh depending on what we feel like. Do you have any food rituals, or do I need to feel like a weirdo? 

Moving right along through the SinfulColors Wish Collection is Sugar Sugar which is a shimmery red color. Nothing mindblowing, but a lot of people are into this type of color, especially around the holidays. The application was just ok because I found it a bit thin and got a little pooling while applying. It was nothing serious, but I thought I'd mention it. Overall, it's a nice red color for the price point.  

Color Club Backstage Pass Fall 2011 Collection: Wish Upon a Rock Star

Color Club Wish Upon a Rock Star (2 coats) over 3 coats SinfulColors Out of This World

Guess who's going to see Van Halen in April? This girl! I was a big fan growing up, and I've always liked David Lee Roth Van Halen better than Sammy Hagar Van Halen. Man, maybe I just haven't been to concerts in awhile, but tickets are crazy expensive! I think the worst part is the extra "fees" that are tacked on there. Oh well, I'm still excited! Let's see if they can make it that long without breaking up again. 

Remember when I posted SinfulColors Out of this World a couple days ago? Well, A Polished Touched made a helpful comment about how well it is as a layering polish over other colors. I haven't tried it yet, but I think she's totally right. I decided to use Color Club's Wish Upon a Rock Star to cover up the nail lines using it as a gradient. It is a multi-color hexagonal glitter polish with larger lavender glitter pieces that looks a lot like the other Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday dupes. It applied much better than the other Backstage Pass glitters so it has that going for it. It's not really unique, but it's still a fun glitter polish (that is still a pain to take off!).

SinfulColors Holiday 2011 Wish Collection: Out of this World

SinfulColors Out of This World (3 coats)

I am so happy I found the Icings magnetic nail polish last week! I've been dying to try these and found them at my local store. I bring this up because I am wearing one today and will have a post up about them as soon as I can. Have you heard that China Glaze is also coming out with magnetic polishes? It's the year of the flakies and magnetic polishes! The Polishaholic has swatches right here for your viewing pleasure. 

And now I bring you my least favorite polish from the SinfulColors Wish collection called Out of This World. Yup, we have a sheer one. This is three coats and I still have a bad case of the visible nail line (VNL). If it wasn't so sheer, I think this would have made a really nice shimmery silver polish. The other problem I had was that the formula was really thin as well. Overall, I think the rest of the collection is much better than Out of This World and I would skip it. 

SinfulColors Holiday 2011 Wish Collection: Midnight Blue

SinfulColors Midnight Blue (2 coats)

Woo, I learned about a new instrument today called the atomic absorption spectrometer. While it isn't used quite as often since there has been an increase in the usage of the ICP-OES and ICP-MS, I'm still excited to learn how to use different pieces of equipment. This thing probably cost all the money and they trust me to use it! Eek! That's probably been the only exciting part of this Hump Day. How was your day? 

I've been so far behind on swatching that I only now have the SinfulColors holiday collection to show. Oops! Just look how beautiful this deep blue shimmer is! It's really shocking that Midnight Blue is an inexpensive drugstore brand because I think it is gorgeous and had a great formula. I know some of you have an issue with some polishes from SinfulColors because they can be thin or a bit sheer, but I couldn't find anything wrong with this one. I haven't stopped by my local Walgreens lately so I don't know if these are still on display, but I can usually find the collections a few weeks after the fact. If you've seen it, please post a comment and let me know-thanks!


*These polishes were provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Pure Ice Winter Crackle and Ice Duo

Pure Ice Winter Crackle and Ice Duo (2 coats gold over 1 crackle topcoat)

Happy Chinese New Year! I am lucky enough to have a Taiwanese office mate so I have been able learn learn a lot about Asian traditions and culture. Sometimes I even surprise him with my knowledge! I thought it would be nice to have a post displaying the red and gold colors. 

Pure Ice is a company that I've seen exclusively at Walmart stores, which for me, is a bit of a downfall. I like to make my trips to Walmart few and far between and usually I am just looking at the cosmetics. The duo shown above will only set you back $6 for both which is a steal. The gold base color applied nicely, but I had to have 2 pretty thick coats for full coverage. Honestly, if you use the crackle on top, you don't need to worry too much about any visible nail line. I'm still a bit torn about crackle polishes. When they first came out I was so excited about them. Soon, every company had their own version and I got burnt out on them so quickly. Since it seems they've died out a bit, I have a little more appreciation for them now....but just a little bit. As far as crackle polishes go though, this was was really nice and had some unique crackling effects. Are you still into crackles?


*These polishes were provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Revlon Nail Polish: Whimsical

Revlon Whimsical (2 coats) over Revlon Cloud (2 coats)

Oh Revlon Whimsical, you elusive little minx. It's definitely the 2012 Opulent Cloud. It took me plenty of trips to local drugstores and even a Bed Bath & Beyond with a Harmon's inside to find this little gem. In the end I found the last one at my local Ulta store. It is a dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air which I do not own. As I don't like sheer polishes, I opted to layer this over Revlon Cloud which is a light lavender creme. I've seen some swatches where people put it over blue, but I think the sky blue hexagonal glitter stands out more with a different base.  The glitter is pretty few and far between, so it was difficult to get the amount of glitter I wanted in two coats. I had to use lots of little strokes to keep them on, but I ended up getting some bubbles doing it this way. 

Overall, I think the glitter was pretty, but I really wish it wasn't so sheer. Have you found this little gem yet? 

Butter London Spring/Summer 2012 Collection Preview

butter LONDON™ and Founding Creative Director Nonie Creme are pleased to introduce the new S/S 12 lacquer collection.  

Says Creme,  “What a season! Pops of neon colour everywhere, tempered by sherbet pastels and cool neutrals. It left us plenty to play with in the nail realm.  I’ve mixed a couple of softer opaque shades in cantaloupe and pale pistachio, and followed up with an intense retro turquoise and slightly glittery hot pink.  Finally, a quietly marvelous sheer oyster that packs a tiny punch with micro glitter particles for those seeking a new way to wear neutral. The message this season is KNOW who you are, then BE who you are! It’s all about the Individual this season, and the beauty world is yours to rule.”

Bossy Boots

Colour Description - Light, opaque pistachio green. A beautiful take on neutral for this season

Dictionary Description - A derogatory name for someone who is pushy or bossy, (usually reserved for children)

Disco Biscuit

Colour Description - Tropical hot pink with an undercurrent of tiny iridescent glitter particles

Dictionary Description - A club term from the rave days of the early 90’s for a tablet of Ecstasy

Knackered

Colour Description - A sheer, twinkling oyster shade flecked with micro glitter particles.

Dictionary Description - To be tired or exhausted. “Wow, you look knackered. What did you get up to last night?!”

Slapper

Colour Description - A truly teal lacquer, bold and very bright.

Dictionary Description - Brit-speak for ”slut”.

Trout Pout

Colour Description - An opaque shade of cantaloupe, pale and retro.

Dictionary Description -  Cruel slang for a woman who has “over done” the collagen in her lips, leaving her with a rather fishy face.

SinfulColors Nail Polish: Nirvana

SinfulColors Nirvana (2 coats)

I bought some new boots the other week and it was the first time in years I've worn boots. I don't know why because I love how they look on other people. Of course I buy them the winter where it's been 50-60s though! I love tucking my jeans into them to keep my legs and feet warmer, but I need to buy a pair of skinny jeans to stop any bunching at the bottom. I never wear skinny jeans so I don't know who has the best ones. Any suggestions for a skinny jean newb? 

SinfulColors also jumped on the bandwagon of mushroom grey taupe polishes with Nirvana. I can't even count how many colors I have like this one, but it gets extra points for only being $1 or $2 at your local drugstore. The application was nothing to write home about, but it wasn't bad. If you don't have anything like this (which I doubt) I would recommend Nirvana to you. Otherwise, I'd spend my money on something more unique. 

China Glaze ElectroPop Preview

Los Angeles, CA - (January 2012): Where heavy metal meets rocker chic, China Glaze® introduces the Spring 2012 collection, ElectroPop. Inspired by all things girly, edgy and fun, the 12 shades of ElectroPop bring out the inner rock star in all. For flash and glam this spring, China Glaze® hits the stage in style!

ElectroPop Shades include:

• Kinetic Candy – Touch the sky in light blue crème 
• Electric Beat – Periwinkle nails for a wink worthy performance
• Aquadelic – Pool blue for nighttime gigs and daytime fun in the sun
• Gaga For Green – Green lacquer for the girl craving the limelight
• Sunshine Pop – Shine in the spotlight in bold yellow 
• Make Some Noise – Rock the mic in tangerine
• Wicked Style – Party cocktail tropical punch
• Fuchsia Fanatic – Fuchsia pink for the rocker diva in us all
• Gothic Lolita – Steal the show on girls night out in seductive purple
• Dance Baby – Hit center stage in cotton candy pink
• Sweet Hook – Blow a kiss in dreamy lilac
• Techno – Glitter confetti polish for a dazzling topcoat finish or all over finger tip bling

ElectroPop will be available February 2012. Individual shades retail for $7; 6 piece collections retail for $42.

Anything suit your fancy?

Color Club Backstage Pass Collection: Platinum Record

Color Club Platinum Record (2ish coats) over 2 coats of a SinfulColors polish

Holy crap this combination looks hideous and I'm almost too embarrassed to show it! When I looked in the bottle of Platinum Record, I thought some of the small hexagonal glitters were black, but, unfortunately it was straight silver. I dunno, this was just ok for me in all honesty. The application was pretty annoying and you had to use lots of small brush strokes to get any of the glitter to stick to the nail (and there was lots of dragging of glitter with it). I think you can find better glitter polishes from your local drugstore. 

Jinhao X750 Holographic Fountain Pen

Jinhao X750 Fountain Pen

It's a well-kept secret that I've started getting into fountain pens recently. They just write so much better than other gel or ball point pens (and you look so much fancier doing it). I know this post isn't about nail polish, but I thought you guys could appreciate the awesome holographic glitter on this pen. I had heard some good reviews on this pen on a the Fountain Pen Network (yup, there's one of those) and I just couldn't beat it for $7.00 including shipping! So far I'm really liking it! I bought this on Ebay so make sure to check it out if you are interested in purchasing a nice fountain pen. 

Julep Nail Polish: Kim

Julep Kim (2 coats)

Did you enjoy your long weekend? There's nothing like a day off to go to Ulta to pick up some nail polishes, stop by to eat some Chinese food and finish up with watching Mad Men. Can you believe I had never seen an episode? I know, I know, lots of people recommended it, but I never got around to it. While at Ulta they had some Zoya, China Glaze, Piggy Polish and Revlon polishes on clearance. I ended up getting a mix of them for $15! 

So far I'm really enjoying the Julep Maven program and their polishes. Prior to this, I had never tried their products (basically due to their high price), but the program really helps with this. Kim is a gunmetal grey color with a shimmer finish. I like it, I really do, but it's a pretty common color. You may already own something similar to this, so I wouldn't recommend purchasing it at full price. Again, for the Maven price, I'm happy I have it. 

Julep Nail Polish: Trina

Julep Trina (2 coats) 

Has anyone seen the Canadian show Trailer Park Boys? My PhD advisor turned me on to the show (he's Canadian) and it is hilarious. Anyway, early in the show's existence, Ellen Page played Mr. Lahey's daughter and was named Treena. As soon as I saw Julep's Trina polish, it immediately made me think of the character and the show. Good times. 

Anyway, how gorgeous is Trina? I got it as a part of their Julep Maven program, which, if you're going to buy any Julep polishes, is the most inexpensive way to go. It is a deep, shimmery eggplant purple that also has some flecks of blue in there. The application and formula was smooth and perfect with high opacity in 2 coats. I think lots of you out there would enjoy this one. 

SinfulColors Nail Polish: Folly

SinfulColors Folly (2 coats)

Did you know that Sinful Colors should actually be written SinfulColors? Weird, I know. I was specifically told from their PR that this is the case. You guys know I like budget friendly polishes and SinfulColors is one of my favorite drugstore brands. When the polishes are on sale at Walgreens for $0.99 I pick up as many colors as possible. I swear, I have to be about out of new polishes from them! 

Folly is a bright pink creme that leans towards a jelly. Even though it has a bit of jellyness to it, it only needs 2 coats to be opaque. I like it, especially for the price! 

Dr.'s Remedy Jolly & Joy Holiday 2011 Collection: Revive Ruby Red

Dr.'s Remedy Revive Ruby Red (2 coats)

Hola! I have the final polish from the Dr.'s Remedy Jolly & Joy collection to show you today. Overall, I feel they've finally started branching out into new finishes and colors so good for them! I'd even venture to say that this was their best collection yet. 

In case you haven't noticed, red polishes are my least favorite. I don't think it's just because it's a "normal" or "safe" color because you guys know how much I love pink polishes. Despite my general dislike for the color red (you know I still love my glittery red polishes though!), I do like Revive Ruby Red because it is so dark and shimmery. From the name, I would have guessed they were going for a Wizard of Oz theme for this one, but it's definitely too dark compared to the real ruby slippers. As usual, the application and formula was superb, which would be expected for such an expensive polish (~$17).


*These polishes were provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*