Thursday, March 29, 2012

Look At What I Found: Revlon Crackle Duos

Hello Everyone!

For today's post I wanted to show you something I came across while I was in the grocery store. Revlon has released crackle duos. Each set comes with one traditional polish and one crackle polish. I've got to say I really hate this kind of packaging. I'm a firm believer that all polish should be stored upright so that it does not leak into the threads on the bottle neck and essentially glue itself shut. I also feel like it's really late in the game for Revlon to be jumping on the crackle bandwagon. I know most polish enthusiasts are pretty much over the trend now. I think that's just the nature of our "addiction". We're always waiting for the next big thing and we're so up to date with what's being released in upcoming collections that we tend to get over things very quickly.


I posted this picture on the nail board on MUA and someone jokingly said, "at this rate they'll be releasing magnetics in 2014". Now I love magnetics as much as the next girl, but please Revlon, please release streetwears instead. Do you realize how happy all of your loyal customers would be to see the streetwear line come back? 

I believe these duos retail for either $6.99 or $8.99. 

What do you think of crackle polish? Are you over it? Still excited to see new options?

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

NOTD: China Glaze Riveting (matte)

Hello Everyone!

The NOTD I have for you today is from the China Glaze Hunger Games collection. The polish is called Riveting. Riveting starts off with a sexy orange leaning red jelly base and is packed full of irregular shaped glitter/flake particles. The main color I see from the particles is gold. The particles really make this polish come alive. This polish has me confused as far as finish goes. It's not really a glass fleck polish, it's not a foil, and it's not a normal glitter. I'd say it's closer to being a glass fleck than any other finish. Riveting was very well pigmented and I only needed two coats to reach opacity, but I went ahead and did three just to be cautious. I saw a picture of a mani done with Riveting but topped with a matte topcoat. That's exactly how I chose to wear Riveting. I think it looks amazing matte. It looks like red hot coals to me. Way to go China Glaze! You never cease to amaze me. Picture shown is three coats Riveting over Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator and topped with China Glaze Matte Magic.


So Sexy!

What are your favorite colors from the Hunger Games collection?

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

NOTD Essie Lion Around

Hello Everyone.

Lately I've been really into conservative manis. By conservative I mean what some people would call "mom colors".  Don't get me wrong, I still love my glitterbombs and holos but every now and then I get in this mood where all I want to wear are "safe" colors. I believe the polish world has made great progress in this area while still being interesting. Conservative does not, in anyway, have to mean boring. I don't find these colors yawn worthy, but I do consider them work appropriate (if you work in a conservative office) and especially interview appropriate. I really think it's important to wear tame colors for an interview until you learn what the company's policy is on polish (if there is one). I'm very lucky in my job to not have polish be an issue.

The NOTD I have for you today is Essie Lion Around. Confession, I'm not much of a pink polish person. I just feel with so many other colors out there I kinda forget about pink. I will admit that I'm still looking for my perfect pale pink that is not streaky and is opaque. I really need to check out those Sally Hansen Smooth & Perfect polishes. Anyways, back to the polish as hand (did you see what I did there? ), Essie Lion Around is a nude-y pink polish. It's definitely not pink pink and definitely not nude. I feel it falls somewhere in between. Lion around also has a tiny bit of shimmer. It is not shimmery and it's really not noticeable at all until you're in blindingly direct sunlight and you're searching for it. I love this hidden shimmer. I feel it's just enough to soften the over all look of the polish. Picture shown is two coats over Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator and topped with China Glaze Fast Forward top coat.


What are your favorite conservative colors?

Sunday, March 4, 2012

NOTD: Essie Marshmallow & Revlon Whimsical (and chatting)

Hello Everyone!

Two quick tings before we get to the NOTD:

1. I'm trying to put myself on a blogging schedule so I can post more regularly. Right now I'm thinking of posts on Saturday, Monday and Thursday with posts on other days as often as I can. Life is busy right now so I think having a day I'm "SUPPOSED" to have a post will help me.

2. If you follow me on twitter you'll know about two weeks ago I had a very bad break on my swatching hand. I haven't fully recovered from it (physically or emotionally) so you'll see in the pictures below that the nail on my middle finger looks a bit sad. I'm working on growing it back and I feel it's growing quite nicely.

On the the polish!

Today's NOTD is Is Essie Marshmallow topped with Revlon Whimsical. Essie Marshmallow is still a little tricky (application wise) for me. It tends to be streaky on me but it IS a jelly and a white (two things I normally have application issues with). I find that three coats of Marshmallow is the magic number for me.

Whimsical is, I believe, intended to be a dupe for Lippmann's Glitter In The  Air (GITA for short), but I do not own GITA to say for sure. I CAN say that Revlon has been doing one heck of a job duping (or at least getting really close) to a lot of higher end polishes that have come out recently. Whimsical starts off with a very sheer (and i mean VERY sheer) baby blue jelly base. There's a lot of glitter floating around in this polish. I see very tiny micro glitter that flashes from blue to blurple to green blue. I also see some small silver hexagon glitter and of course the glitter that is most prominent is the light blue and soft pink medium sized hexagon glitter. I had no application issues with Whimsical, but I will say the large glitter is really sparse so it can be a bit frustrating when trying to get an even looking coat. That's just the nature of this polish. I cannot comment on removal of this polish as I'm still wearing it. I do not foresee any issues with removal as the glitter is so sparse.

Pictures shown are three coats of Essie Marshmallow topped with two coats (I told you that jelly base is  super sheer) of Revlon Whimsical.Base Coat- Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator. Top Coat- China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat





I really can't wait to try Whimsical over other pastel polishes. I think it will be a great polish for spring, and I am totally ready for spring!