Sinful Colors Tempest

Sinful Colors is known for repromotes. It's one of my biggest gripes with the brand, but I'm going to eat my words a bit today. I always see Tempest. Every year they put it some display as if it's some brand new polish. It's not. It's been around for ages. Despite it being around for ages and me griping I never ever purchased it until now. It's actually a pretty purple and I always just bypassed it because it's just always been there. I decided to give it a chance.

Tempest

Tempest is a bright lavender creme.

Color: I love the brightness of this color. There are tons of lavender cremes out there. I'm well aware, but I like how this one isn't so pale. It has this nice pop to it. I love lavender cremes.

Formula: This had a very nice formula. I used 2 coats above. It was smooth and easy to apply.

Price: This was $1.99 at Walgreens.

Overall: Yes, it's been around forever and it's a lavender creme. They're a dime a dozen, but for the price, this is a nice color. I love the vibrancy of this lavender and it had a really nice formula. If you're not someone with 1000+ bottles of nail polish and want a shade like this don't spend your money on pricier ones this one will suffice!

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Tuesday!

NYX Seattle Storm

I was really excited to know that NYX Cosmetics opened up a store at a mall near me. NYX is definitely my favorite drugstore beauty brand. I especially love their lip products. I was really excited to be able to see all of their products in one place. Ulta has a pretty good selection, but it's nothing like having a whole store dedicated to NYX products. The store was tiny, but one of the first things that caught my eye is that they sold nail polish in their store. NYX has gone through a few bottle designs and lines of nail polish, but I've never seen them in a store. I was drawn to this color in the store and had to pick it up.

Seattle Storm

Seattle Storm is a grey-beige with a hint of lavender creme.

Collection: Core

Color: We saw the emergence of these greige/gravender colors in 2010-2012, but they haven't lost their appeal to me. I find myself more drawn to colors like this now than I did back then. I love a great neutral especially in those transitional times of seasons. It's still summer, but I'm ready for fall. I just don't want to dive into fall all the way yet. These are the types of colors I reach for now. It's a great color for any occasion or season really.

Formula: I wasn't really expecting much with this formula, but I loved it. It was perfection. It wasn't too thick or too thin. I felt the brush was great too and I had full control of the formula and application. I used 2 coats here.

Price: This is $5 at NYX Cosmetics stores or on their website.

Overall: Seattle Storm is a great neutral creme. I love this color because it's so sophisticated and chic without being ordinary. The formulation on this was excellent and even the price is great considering how much nail polish is these days. This is a definite win for me.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 *Golden* Paint Splatters

Happy Monday!

The Lady Varnishes Lilac

I have to admit, I am probably the biggest fail of nail blogger when it comes to indies. I have tried so very few, and find it really difficult to keep up with all that's out there. When holidays come around with sales I usually take that opportunity to try a new indie. This past Memorial Dale during sale I came across The Lady Varnishes, and decided to gives these polishes try. This one I picked out is a real stunner.

Lilac

Lilac is a bright lavender foil varnish with holo pigment and gold to green color-shifting shimmer.

Collection: Foil-iage

Color: This combines my one of my favorite color combos which of course makes it amazing. I absolutely love cool-toned colors with gold. The golden shimmery glow this lavender holo has is beautiful! I love the softness of this color, but I love even more how the shimmer and holo effect enhance it. Sometimes I notice with lighter colors, holo and shimmer can drown out the base color. This color is pigmented and saturated.

Formula: Outstanding formula. I was so so so impressed. I only needed 2 coats, and this applied so smoothly and opaquely.

Price: This is $12.00 on The Lady Varnishes etsy site.

Overall: I'm in love with Lilac. This is a beautiful holographic polish with that really stands out as extra special. The formula on this is superb and applied beautifully. I'm very happy with this indie and this purchase!

My Rating: 5 out of 5 *Golden* Paint Splatters

Happy Monday!

L'Oreal The Reign of Studs

The whole textured L'Oreal Gold Dust collection was something I thought I completely missed the boat on. I saw people posting pics of it in November, but I never found it, so I just resigned to the fact that it wasn't meant to be.

I didn't realize it was actually a January 2014 release, and the people who found it early just got lucky. I stopped by Walgreens after New Years, and was very pleased to see I really didn't miss the boat. I picked up 5 colors, and The Reign of Studs is one of them.

The Reign of Studs

The Reign of Studs with top coat

The Reign of Studs is a really stupid name that I hate lavender textured glitter.

Color: This is a beautiful sparkling lavender. This is one of those where I believe the picture speaks for itself.

Formula: Excellent, easy to apply. I'm sure some could get away with one coat, but I did two for good measure.

Price: I paid $6.99 for this at Walgreens. I'm not sure if this is standard price though? I live in a tourist area, so everything tends to be $0.50-$1.00 more for me.

Overall: The dumb name aside (I really can't stand the name), this a beautiful polish. I love it with top coat and without. I don't own a color like this and the formula is great. This polish is a win.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Thursday!

OCC Electric Sheep

I came across this next polish at the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics booth at The Makeup Show Orlando. They probably had around 30 nail polishes to choose from, and this color immediately stood out to me. This is strange to me because this is not a color I typically would be drawn to, but this one caught my eye!

Electric Sheep

Electric Sheep is a soft lavender with a strong silver shimmer. 

Color: This color is so unique to me. I don't think I've seen such a soft shade with such a strong shimmer. I can't even really describ how I feel about it. This is just a funky color. It's soft and pretty, but funky too? Plus, it's called Electric Sheep!

Formula: The formula on this was fine. I used 3 coats. The shimmer in this is more intense, so this polish does show some brushstrokes. I don't find this to be overpowering at all nor would I consider this a frost. 

Price: This is $10 on the OCC website. 

Overall: I like this one, it's cool and different. I love lavender polish, but silver shimmer isn't typically my thing. I really like the shimmer in this one, it gives it a cool futuristic finish IMO. 

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Tuesday!

Zoya Stevie

Do you ever buy a polish that you don't really like, but because so many other people love it, you figure you must be missing something? It's nail polish peer pressure, I tell you! Every time I've done this I've ended up disappointed. My initial instinct was right, and I then feel stupid for the purchase. This is how I felt about Zoya Stevie.

Stevie

 Stevie w/ top coat

Stevie is a pastel lavender textured glitter.

Color: I don't like this color. I love lavenders, but this shade is a little too light and pink-toned for me. I prefer cooler blue-toned lavenders. I also wish this color had a bit more punch to it. This is purely my opinion though. Like I mentioned above, most everyone I know loves this one.

Formula: This one was sheer. I used 3 coats above. Perhaps this why I don't care for it either? I tried this one after I had tried the Zoya PixieDust fall collection. If you're familiar with those colors they're one-coaters and very saturated. This one was light handed and weak in comparison.

Price: This is $9.00 on the Zoya website.

Overall: This isn't a bad polish. The color isn't bad either, I just don't care for it. Objectively, I do find in comparison with other Zoya PixieDusts this one is weaker as far as pigmentation and formula. This is just OK. Personally, I find it less than OK.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Monday! 

Orly Pixie Powder

*You have one week left to enter my Beautifully Disney giveaway!

I have another polish from the Orly Surreal fall collection for you today. This is another standout polish to me from this collection. One, because it's so not typical for fall, and two because it's just flat out gorgeous!

Pixie Powder over Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac

Pixie Powder is a lavender micro glitter with a slight golden/pink flash in a clear base.

Color: This glitter in this is so delicate and beautiful. They named this correctly by including the name Pixie in it. Pixie Powder does look magical. I love how at certain angles you can see hints of pink and gold shine in this glitter.

Formula: The formula on this was smooth and easy to use. I used 2 coats over a base.

Price: I think I paid around $8.50 for this at Ulta.

Overall: Beautiful glitter topper here. I think this is stunning. My only complaint, is I wish this had fuller coverage.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Friday!

Shimmer Polish Jovie, Leslie, and Taylor

*The following products were sent to me by Shimmer Polish in exchange for my honest review.

Today, I have some more Shimmer Polish pretties to share with you!

Jovie over Cult Nails Nevermore

Jovie over Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac

Jovie is a mix of pink opalescent glitters in a clear base.

Leslie over Cult Nails Nevemore

Leslie is a mix of periwinkle and lavender glitters in a clear base.

Taylor over Cult Nails Nevermore

Taylor is a red jelly base with red, green, and blue glitters.

Colors: Lovely mix of glitter combinations in these three polishes. I love how multi-dimensional they are. Shimmer Polishes are not one flat color glitter polishes, they have multiple color glitters in them that make them stand out. It's hard to choose a favorite here!

Formula: I didn't have any difficulty with any of the formulas. Leslie is a little chunkier than the other two, but it still applied nicely. I used 2 coats for each swatch. I do recommend using a base with these as it allows you to use less coats to build up the glitter.

Price: These polishes are $12 and can be found on etsy. You can also purchase through Shimmer Polish directly via email. There are directions on her site on how to do so.

Overall: Jovie, Leslie, and Taylor are all awesome and unique glitter mixes. I love them!

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Be sure to check out Shimmer Polish's website for a full list polishes and follow on Facebook!

* I received the above products by Shimmer Polish for review. 

Happy Monday!

Way-Cool Mani Wednesday: Lilac & Nude

I've come up with a new feature "Way-Cool Mani Wednesday" The past two Wednesdays, I've done posts featuring some fun, two accent, glittery, nail art, or all three type manis. This is a change for me, as I'm usually a nail polish purest. I have to say I'm loving experimenting with different colors, finishes, and sometimes nail art in one mani!

I'd love to make this a weekly feature to show you what I've come with. Be mindful, I'm not some nail artist, so don't expect some masterpieces here. You can expect to see some fun, simple, and easy to do yourself way-cool manis! I hope you like this new weekly feature. 

Here is a mani I did using all three of the mentioned above, two accents, glittery, and nail art! 

Polishes Used: Karadshian Beauty Afterglow, OPI Do You Lilac It, and NOPI Inner Sparkle (Selena Gomez)

Manicure Description: I painted my thumb, index, and pinky finger with Kardashian Beauty Afterglow. I painted my middle finger with Afterglow, and used the Saran Wrap technique of OPI Do You Lilac It? on top. My ring finger is Do You Lilac It? topped with NOPI Inner Sparkle. 

I really love this one. I like the pairing of the colors, and how the whole thing turned out. It's a softer look, but  with something a little special! 

Happy Wednesday! 

Pastel Saran Wrap Glitter Accent Concoction

* Check out my guest post on Refined & Polished yesterday, where I talk about how replicate the saran wrap nail technique. 

I have some secondary birthday nails from last week to show you. I was really proud of these nails! I wore these when I went out to lunch with some of my blogger friends for my b-day.

I started out using Julie G 9 to 5 as my base. I then topped that off using saran wrap technique with China Glaze Tart-y for the Party. I finished it with an accent of Sally Hansen Gems Big Money.

I am in LOVE with this, and really impressed with myself! I love the color combination and the glitter accent. Big Money was perfect balance because the lavender glitters mixed in with the gold match up to the lavender in China Glaze Tart-y for the Party. I think I did good considering nail art isn't my strong suit.

I'm making the most out of this mani. I've had it on since Saturday night and it's still holding strong! I don't want it to chip. This is probably one of my favorite nail looks I've ever done for myself!

What is one of your favorite nail art creations? 

Happy Wednesday!

China Glaze Tart-y For the Party

*I want to first apologize for my measly 2 posts last week. My recent move, a damaged car, and having a bad cold while trying to establish a new routine put me on the outs. The combination wasn't easy for me. I don't like to complain because these things are minuscule compared to many other peoples life struggles, but for a creature of habit like me it was a lot. I'm back to business now! The worst of my cold is over and my car is fixed! I know, I don't have to apologize to you all, but I feel bad about it for my sake. I didn't feel like myself for the past few weeks, and I love blog, so it made me sad to be so out of it!

Happy Memorial Day!

I'm a big fan of lavender polishes. They're definitely one of my favorite colors to sport in the spring in summer months. When I spotted China Glaze Tart-y for the Party in the Avant Garden collection, I knew I had to have it.

Tart-y for the Party

Tart-y for the Party is a medium lavender creme.

Color: Beautiful lavender shade. Before I purchased this, I looked at The Polishaholic's comparison post to make sure this wasn't dupey. This one definitely seems to stand out differently than other lavender colors I have, it's brighter and richer.

Formula: The formula on this was good. This was on the thin side, but applied nicely in 3 coats. Formula wasn't anything fantastic, but was far from bad. Decent.

Price: I purchased this at Sally Beauty Supply for somewhere around $6-$7.

Overall: I love this color. I'm very pleased with this purchase.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Monday!

Nicole by OPI Sweet Dreams

I promised myself after Nicole by OPI's A Gold Winter's Night I would never by another NOPI polish ever again. I actually love their color selection and their polishes, but you all know why I said this.... I hate the bottles. I can never figure out the right angle to photograph these polishes holding the bottle where they look right. Oh well, I lied. When I saw the some of the glitters in the Selena Gomez collection I had to have some. This is one of them I picked up.

Sweet Dreams over L'Oreal Not a Cloud in Sight

Sweet Dreams is a mixture of aqua,lavender, and silver glitters in a clear base.

I love the combination of colors here, and that's why I picked it up. I think aqua and teal is one of my favorite color combinations too. It's really nice to see some mainstream brands coming out with fun glitters! I love my indies, but it's always nice to find some fun glitters in a store! I picked this one up at K-Mart. I know many people don't have K-Mart, but I also saw these at Ulta, and I think it's been spotted at other stores.  I believe I used 2 coats here, and the application was easy.

Happy Thursday!

Ulta Lav-ish

Some of the most difficult color families for me of nail polish are of the greige, taupe, and granvender variety. There is something about these colors that can be described as "muddy" that do not work well with my skin tone. They make me hands look dirty and red. The problem I find with this is these types of colors are very on trend, chic, and I like the way they look. I spotted Ulta Lav-ish, and was instantly attracted to it, but I had that thought in the back of my head that this color may just not work well on me. Thankfully, I was wrong and found this shade of "gravender" to be a more forgiving shade. 

Lav-ish

Lav-ish is a dusty muted lavender with a subtle golden shimmer.

That's not so bad! I actually love it! Phew! I think what makes this work for me, is that it leans more to the lavender side than the gray. It also has more of a dusty and soft appearance than a muddy one. The golden shimmer helps it too. It's certainly nice to find a color like this that I can confidently wear and feel good about. If you have trouble with the types of shades I mentioned above I'd really recommend checking out Lav-ish, I think it maybe what you've been looking for. I also really cannot think of color out there quite like it. The formula was nice, and it applied well. The Ulta brand polishes go on sale frequently, so it also affordable and easy to find. :)

Happy Wednesday! 

Maybelline Color Show Sequins

When I first saw a press release of these I knew I instantly wanted them. I also knew, that since this collection was limited edition I'd probably never find it! My sweet dad actually found these for me at the grocery store Albertsons. I know people have spotted these at other grocery store chains, Rite Aid, and Walmart. I'm hoping these will be at other drugstores soon so you can find them!

I will start out by saying I had difficulty with the formula in these. I immediately added a few drops of thinner to ALL of them. In my review, I will be layering these over other polishes. I found while some of these could reach opacity on their own, if I used 2+ coats (which I think is what would be needed to get full coverage) the formula got really difficult to work with and looked really chunky and uneven on the nail. These preformed better using 1 to 2 coats layered over a base. Despite my difficulty, with the formula I'm a glitter junkie so I enjoy these. It's nice to see glitter bombs in drugstore format.

Gold's Night Out over ChG Midnight Kiss

Gold's Night is a mixture of micro gold glitter, small gold hex glitter, and medium gold hex glitters in a clear base.

This is a nice combination of different size glitters and holo glitter. The formula on this is chunky and thick.


Cocktail Dress over Cult Nails Nevermore

Cocktail Dress is a mixture of black and charcoal micro glitters with small red-orange hex glitters in a clear base.

This is a pretty glitter. I found this formula one of the easier ones to work with in comparison to the rest of the collection. I like the color combination. 

Lavender Sparks over Cult Nails Nevermore

Lavender Sparks is a mixture of micro lavender glitter, small lavender hex glitter, and medium holo lavender glitters in a clear base.

This is a chunky dunky yucky formula. Absolutely terrible. It was better with thinner, but I do not recommend using more than 2 coats as it gets really thick and chunky the more coats you use. Pretty color glitter though, and nice layered using less coats.

Ruby Rhinestones over Revlon Raven Red

Ruby Rhinestones is a sheer red base mixed with red micro glitter, black micro glitter, and medium red hex glitters.

The formula on this was OK. It wasn't the worst, but it wasn't the best. I like the combination of red and black.


Sea-Quins over Cult Nails Nevermore

Sea-Quins is a mixture of micro teal glitter, small teal hex glitters, and medium teal hex glitters in a clear base.

The most beautiful of the bunch in my opinion. The formula on this was also decent, and easier to work with than the others.

Silver Gleam over Zoya Trixie

Silver Gleam is a mixture of micro silver glitters, small sliver hex glitters, and medium silver holo glitters in a clear base. 

This was significantly less chunky than a Gold's Night Out. It was one of the easier formulas to work with.

Rose Bling over Cult Nails Nevermore

Rose Bling is a mixture of small rose hex glitters, medium rose hex glitters, and medium dark pinkhex glitters in a clear base.

This is another chunky dunky yucky mess. It is worse than Lavender Sparks. This is what nail polish application nightmares are made of. I wouldn't even attempt doing more than 2 coats of this...you will have a bad time. The glitter color is pretty though, and is decent layered. 

Sapphire Masquerade over Cult Nails Nevermore

Sapphire Masquerade is a sheer blue base with micro blurple glitters, small blurple hex glitters, and medium fuschia hex glitters.

The formula on this was thick. It was decent after thinner. You maybe successful with this in 3 coats without a base if you add thinner to it. This one is very pretty. 

Final Thoughts: 

I'm sure you noticed I commented on the formula on every one of these. They are truly pretty awful. I honestly don't think you could use these with much success with out nail polish thinner. As much as I trash the formula, and I know that is a deal breaker for many of you, I can't help but like some of these glitters. I like the colors, and being a glitter junkie the extra effort is OK by me. That's the only case I'd recommend these in. If you love glitters or if any of these catch you eye, go for it, but keep in mind what I said about the formula. If these don't do much for you or you're on the fence I'd pass. If you had me choose favorites I'd go with Sea-Quins, Cocktail Dress, Sapphire Masquerade, and Lavender Sparks (simply because I have not seen lavender holo glitter before). 

Price wise I believe these are in the $3-$4 range. 

Happy Monday!