Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream Swatch and Review

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream is a beautiful seafoam green polish that is made up of microfine green glitter in a clear base, with larger blue glitter mixed in. 

Halogen Lighting

Sunlight

With Flash

Indoors/ Filtered Light

This polish is just gorgeous! It's hard to tell from the bottle that Mermaid's Dream consists of glitter suspended in a clear base, but after painting on the first coat, their is no doubt about it.  The glitter is so packed that three coats easily makes it opaque on the nail.  The formula on this polish was like butter, I think my nails painted themselves in fact! Overall Mermaid's Dream is a very unique polish and I highly recommend it!

Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams Swatch and Review

Nordstrom's was having a buy 2 get 1 free sale on all Deborah Lippmann nail polishes this weekend, so I picked up Sweet Dreams, Good Girl Gone Bad, and Mermaid's Dream, all of which I had been eying for awhile! 

Sweet Dreams is a beautiful pink jelly polish that is filled to the brim with pink and gold holographic flakes.

With Flash

Halogen Lighting

Sunlight

     I really love this polish! It has a beautiful fish scale appearance that just lights up in the sun, and the shade of pink is perfect for my skin tone.  I also absolutely adore the bottle... is that strange to like the bottle? My only complaint with this polish is that it was thick and this caused application to be a bit difficult.  Just be careful to apply it in thin layers or you will end up with bald spots and patches of thicker and thinner areas.  I can't wait to try it in a gradient manicure, or layered over black. I bet it would look fabulous! 

Essie Mojito Madness Swatch and Review

Essie Mojito Madness is a beautiful green creme that manages to be bright and summery and very green without moving too far into  yellow territory.

Halogen Lighting

Sunlight

With Flash

Indoors

   This means that I can wear it and it's still very flattering on my skin tone! Overall I really like this color, and was really looking forward to trying it.  The formula was fairly good, slightly on the thick side but not bad, and it only took 2 coats to become opaque.  It did however take forever and a day to dry.  Even after about 40 minutes of dry time I accidentally bumped my thumb nail on my right hand and it dented.  I still think it's worth it! In certain lighting conditions this color reminds me of that retro avocado green color they used to use in kitchens in the 70's but in a good way.

Essie, Mirror Metallics Blue Rhapsody Swatch and Review

 

Blue Rhapsody is a silvery blue shade from Essie's new Mirror Metallics collection.  I must say that I only picked up this polish on a whim when I saw the collection at my local Target.  My first impression of other swatches I had seen of this collection wasn't positive, but I since I didn't have anything else like it in my collection I thought, like many other nail polish addicts before me... why not?

     I have to say first of all, Blue Rhapsody completely blew away all my previous ideas of what it would be like.  It shouldn't be "Don't judge a book by it's cover", but instead, "Don't judge a polish by it's swatch."  Cameras and computer monitors alike have a way of skewing the true nature of a nail polish so that the most endearing traits of the polish are masked or misrepresented. Not only that, but on the nail, Blue Rhapsody looks absolutely nothing like it did in the bottle.

     Blue Rhapsody is more metallic then it appears in the swatch above, almost looking like blue tinted aluminum foil stuck onto my nails.  It reminds me of a moody foreboding ocean on an overcast day, as it often is here in the Pacific NW.  True love! Now I regret not getting more of the polishes to try from this collection... Maybe next time...

     Application was pretty good with this polish if not a little strange.  The first coat goes on very patchy, and if you don't wait until that layer dries completely, it has a tendency to drag and pull as you put on a second layer.  Luckily it dried very quickly so I didn't have to wait long.  I used 3 coats for full opacity.  I didn't bother to use a top coat for this polish as I didn't want to mess with the pretty metallic finish.  As far as cleanup is concerned, this polish was super easy to remove and did not stain my nails at all.  I did use 1 coat of base coat before application as I always do, but even without it I don't think this polish would have a tendency to stain. Overall I would highly recommend it!

Have you tried any polishes from Essie's Mirror Metallics collection? What did you think?

Sinful Colors, Pinky Glitter Swatch and Review

Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter is a sparkly polish loaded with various sizes of tiny iridescent pink glitter in a sheer pink jelly base.

In the above picture I used 4 coats of Pinky Glitter to get full coverage.  The application was smooth but very sheer which really isn't my thing.  I'm more of a bright and bold kinda girl.  I could see wearing this for an event that calls for something subtle yet romantic, perhaps for attending a wedding?

I thought maybe this polish would shine if I layered in on top of another polish to really make the glitter pop.  For this image I used 2 coats of base color and 1 coat of Pinky Glitter on top.  From left to right, I used Sinful Colors Boom Boom, ORLY Goth, Sinful Colors Pink Forever, and Sinful Colors Let's Talk. I particularly like it layered over Boom Boom and Goth. 

What do you think?

Sinful Colors is a 3 free brand (Toluene, Formaldehyde, and DBP) and is available in many stores including Walgreens and Target for only $1.99 a bottle!

Zoya, America Swatch and Review

It is a beautiful day in my neck of the woods today! At 72F and sunny, you couldn't ask for a more perfect day.  The perfect day demands the perfect manicure, and Zoya America fits the bill. America is a bright tomato red creme that has that classic vintage pinup girl feel to it.

This isn't a color that I would normally wear, but I have to say that I really like it.  This is exactly the shade that I would imagine Marilyn Monroe to have worn along with bright red lipstick and the classic white dress. It took three thin coats to become opaque, and has a nice smooth creamy formula that makes application a breeze. In real life, this color is slightly darker than it appears in the swatch photo, and several shades darker than it appears in the bottle. If you are looking for that perfect vixen red color, this is definitely it!

OPI, Funky Dunky Swatch and Review

Today I present you with OPI Funky Dunky.  This was originally from the Shrek Forever After Collection which came out in Spring of 2010 and at the time it was my first foray into bolder colors. Now this blue based purple creme seems more like an everyday staple!

Under Halogen Lighting

This color was fairly easy to apply, going on smoothly.  Just be careful with the thickness of your coats or brush strokes can and will appear.  This was fairly opaque in two coats, but I did a third coat just for good measure.  The color itself is nice, and is best represented by the first photo.  It does shift to a slightly lighter color when you are outdoors so I photographed it in sunlight as well to show a different perspective.  I would say this is more of a fall color then spring or summer, but as a purple lover, this is definitely one of my faves.

In Sunlight

Wet N Wild Shine, Night Prowl Swatch and Review

Todays swatch is a Wet N Wild Shine nail polish called Night Prowl.  It is a black based polish with purple glitter, and at only $0.99 a bottle, it's a steal!   

 

This polish was super easy to apply, in fact I would go as far as to say that the ease of application would compare to a higher end polish like OPI.  The brush for this polish is a bit on the small side, but I tend to prefer them that way, so it wasn't a problem for me.  The polish was perfectly opaque with three thin coats, however if you apply it more thickly you may be able to get away with only two coats. It did dry to a fairly matte finish, but a coating of quick dry top coat took care of that.

The best thing about this polish is the fact that it's beautiful, it's only $0.99, and bonus, if you check out the back of the label is states that the polish is, "Tolulene, Formaldehyde & Phthalate Free".  Who knew that you could get a 3 free polish in a drug store brand? I can see this as being a perfect shade for Halloween, I can't wait to wear it in October!

LA Colors, Aqua Crystals Swatch and Review

As a nail polish addict, I enjoy all types of nail polish, from the more expensive polishes like MAC or Butter London, to the cheaper drugstore varieties like Wet N Wild, Sinful Colors or as in todays post, LA Colors. This LA Colors polish is called Aqua Crystals. It is a simple polish composed of blue glitter in a clear base, but the bright blue color caught my eye, and for $1.99 at my local Fred Meyer, you can't beat the price (well you can actually, but that's for another post).

This bottle was a bit on the thick side but still fairly easy to apply.  What you see above is 4 coats of polish, and as you can see it is still somewhat sheer.  I may try layering this over other colors for a different effect, I'm thinking black would be nice.  Overall, this came out pretty nice and I'm happy enough with it to think about trying some other colors from LA Colors!

MAC Cosmetics, Mean and Green Swatch and Review

For my very first nail polish swatch, I will be posting Mac Mean and Green.  It is a beautiful duo chrome nail polish that flashes hints of coppery purple, gold and green depending on the angle you look at it.

I really like this color, and the application was smooth and flawless.  It did however require 4 coats to become opaque, and I could still see through the polish when I held my nails up to the light, but I think that can be overlooked for this beautiful gem. This polish was originally part of the Venemous Villains collection, but it can now be purchased as part of Mac's core collection which is available online at Mac Cosmetics or at your local Nordstrom's.