Monday, April 30, 2012

Solid Glitter

Rock Solid is part of the Mineral FX collection from Orly, part of their Fall line from last year. Some very similar polishes also came out at that time, dark greys with holographic glitter, but Rock Solid is a little more unique.

Orly Rock Solid

The base color is very nice: charcoal with silver shimmer, almost foil looking, but to me it seems like the holographic glitter was an afterthought or that it's kind of like frosting on top of a chocolate chip cookie (I seriously saw this at Walmart the other day, would you like some sugar with your sugar?). >,<;; The holo glitter isn't as sparkly as it is in the other near-dupe polishes (CG Some Like it Haute for one), and I think the color would be prettier without it really.

Despite my thinking this color could use a little tweaking, I do really like it as a polish, although I will admit to purchasing its more sparkly counterpart by China Glaze. Some like it holo!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Now give me some figgy pudding! Or jam.

Revlon just released another scented polish collection, Scented Treats, and I couldn't wait to try them! There was a lovely dusty mint green aptly named Mint Gelato, a pretty pale orchid pink, and about six other shades perfect for spring. Most were creme finishes, expect for the one I was weirdly drawn to the most, Fig Jam.

Revlon Fig Jam

Fig Jam is completely unique to any other polish I own, mainly because it just isn't a color I typically go for. It's a really lovely warm-toned, coppery color with gold shimmer running through it. Honestly it probably doesn't even look very good with my complexion, but I don't care-- I just love it! The smell is rather nice, too. It has a warm sugar scent, kind of like crème brûlée, but with a touch of fruit.

I may have to go and pick up a couple more of these treats; the scented polishes really are fun, and this collection has some fantastic colors!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Adjusting some attitude (with a hint of mint!)

While patiently waiting for my Lynnderella wishlist to go through, I thought I would see if I couldn't recreate one that I was really lusting after, Attitude Adjust-Mint. This awesome polish is a mix of iridescent & green large glitters, all different shapes and sizes, plus an amazing green microshimmer, as well as many other awesome little treasures all jammed into one. Well, mine isn't exactly like that, but here's what I came up with.

Diamond Cosmetics Oh Tiff! + Hard Candy Breakup + Love & Beauty Light Green (aka L.A. Girl Crowd Surfing) + Pure Ice Heartbreaker



I was really lucky to come across a dusty bottle of HC's Breakup at Wally's; it has such amazing iridescent glitter that shifts from orange-gold to green to lavender in the shade.



While I was very pleased with this layering combo, it's definitely no dupe for Lynnderella's. And having recently acquired my own bottle (yaaayyy!) I can see there is a lot more going on in Attitude Adjust-Mint, and I absolutely love it. Here are a couple of bottle pic swatches (in direct light & shade):


Soo mesmerizing right?! I'm actually wearing it right now, so I'll be posting pictures of it soon to compare.

Friday, April 13, 2012

The Mighty Zeus!

I absolutely love this shade! It's the perfect dusty lavender/periwinkle. And the fact that it has an amazing pink shimmer makes it one of my new favorites.


Sinful Colors Zeus


Zeus was part of the LE Sinful Colors Cast Away Collection that came out a couple of months ago. I managed to grab the last bottle of Zeus in the display! Sinful Colors is coming out with some really great colors lately, although I wish so many weren't limited.


When I first saw Zeus, I thought it might be a dupe of another color I own, Zoya's Lotus. They are similar-- both dusty purples with pink shimmer/sparkle, but as you can see below they are definitely not dupes. Lotus is darker, & less saturated, with redder hues, and the flecks of shimmer are larger and have some gold as well. However, the color I think it *might* be a dupe of is a limited CVS exclusive shade from Nicole by OPI, Back to Reality...TV. You can see it here on The PolishAholic's blog. ♥


Zoya Lotus vs Sinful Colors Zeus


The next day I added a coat of KleanColor's Chunky Holo Bluebell and Chunky Holo Black on my ring finger-- I love the way the shifting colors look against Zeus!


I'm really glad I was able to snag this one, especially for such a great price!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Smooth Moves

One of my favorite blues, Smooth Sailing is a gorgeous periwinkle/cornflower from Essie's summer collection last year. It also has a really unique glass-flecked texture with a subtle purple, pink, and teal sparkle.

Essie Smooth Sailing



The formula is fantastic, easy to work with and only needed two coats.


Later I topped it with a coat of Zoya's Opal, one of their beautiful new flakies with pink & green iridescent fire. I think it complements the blue nicely!

+ Zoya Opal



A long time lemming of mine is Misa's Decadent Drifter, a greyish green with stunning coppery-pink shimmer. So with my trusty CND Effects Copper Shimmer and Crimson Sparkle, I decided to see if I couldn't recreate this beauty with some of my colors. Behold the quick and dirty swatches!

[1] Rimmel Steel Grey [2] Revlon Gray Suede [3] MAC Quiet Time [4] Sally Hansen Wet Cement [5] Sonia Kashuk Fatigued (All + CND Copper Shimmer & CND Crimson Sparkle)



Well... not quite, but still pretty cool nonetheless!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Velvet Sparkle & Shimmer

I've been really into green & teal polishes recently, and one of my all-time favorites is Finger Paints Vintage Velvet, a really lovely dusty teal-green.

Finger Paints Vintage Velvet + CND Copper Shimmer & CND Crimson Sparkle


Of course I wanted to add some glitz so I have CND Copper Shimmer and Crimson Sparkle layered on top.


Moar picture spam.


Just look at that pink sparkle! *Mesmerized*


These CND Effects polishes are just amazing, they add another dimension to an otherwise "flat" (if not gorgeous) color.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Chanel Peridot Golden Rose Metallic 08

While this beauty is no dupe for the infamous Chanel Peridot, she's definitely in the same family of pure gorgeous.

Golden Rose Metallic 08


Metallic 08 has a stunning color range, shifting from a cool golden green to teal blue.


There are even a couple of shades similar to 08, including Missha HGR01 and PeriPera Metallic Green. These are both European/Asian brands, but can sometimes be found on Ebay.


The next day I decided to try layering Hard Candy Break up over one nail, a multichromatic glitter that shifts from gold to pink to blue depending on the light & color. The texture got a little weird though, kind of resembling fish scales, so I tried a glitter gradient with Sinful Colors Nail Junkie on the rest.

+ Sinful Colors Nail Junkie and Hard Candy Break Up


Although Golden Rose is a European brand (this lovely flew all the way from Poland!), we've been seeing a few metallic duochromes here, too. China Glaze is coming out with a line of six metallic duochromes this spring/summer. One looks very similar to GR 08, and another may be a dupe for Peridot. I hope these come out soon, because they all look amazing.

Left to Right: Unpredictable, Rare and Radiant, Swanky Silk


More info on China Glaze's Bohemian Luster Chrome Collection at Chic Profile.