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June 28, 2013
June 26, 2013
OPI Neon Revolution Swatches!
OPI released a cute mini set of neons for the summer, OPI Neon Revolution. The set includes a white base, a yellow neon, an orange neon, a pink neon, a blue neon and a mini top coat. Now, I hated the white base included with the Nicole by OPI mini set and this one is slightly better. But, after doing the swatches of the yellow neon with the included white base, I decided to swatch the rest of the collection over my trusty OPI Alpine Snow. The included white base is OK, but my own black label Alpine Snow is much easier to apply with no streaks.
Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats OPI White Base, two coats OPI Don't Say It- Yellow It!
Top: one coat OPI mini top coat
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The OPI Neon Revolution set was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
I was happy to find an easy to use yellow neon with this set, OPI Don't Say It- Yellow It! This is two coats of the yellow over two coats of the included white base. The yellow itself was totally streak free and nice, the streaks you see are from the white base. Used over Alpine Snow or maybe My Boyfriend Scales Walls, this yellow neon would be an awesome sunshine-y pop on your nails! Don't Say It- Yellow It! was brighter in person, but it's also a bit more pale than I would expect for a neon yellow.
This polish probably wouldn't work well applied on it's own, but it only needs 2 coats over a white base to look awesome. I think it would be too sheer to wear alone, unless you want to sandwich it. Somehow I don't think sandwiching with a yellow would look good though... The formula of this was good, no real problems other than the (I think) intended sheerness.
Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats OPI Alpine Snow, two coats OPI The Time Is Pow!
Top: one coat OPI mini top coat
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The OPI Neon Revolution set was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
OPI The Time Is Pow! is a nice bright neon orange. It's not eye-searing, but it's still pretty peppy. It leans a bit on the red-orange side. It's also not the most ground-breaking color, but I am a sucker for oranges.
The formula on this was good, it was pretty easy to apply nice and smoothly. Again, it's very sheer and probably looks best over white. I'm not entirely sure why this particular color would need to be so sheer. There are plenty of oranges within the OPI brand that are bright like this, but more opaque.
Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats OPI Alpine Snow, two coats OPI Pink Outside The Box
Top: one coat OPI mini top coat
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The OPI Neon Revolution set was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
OPI Pink Outside The Box is a lovely hot pink neon. I would say this is the brightest in the collection and the closest to what we think of when we hear "neon". Unfortunately, in true neon fashion, my camera did not want to capture this brightness, but it's the kind of pink neon that almost glows in certain lights.
Pink Outside The Box was easy to apply and looked good over Alpine Snow with just two coats. Like the others, it's too sheer to wear alone, but I guess that's why they included the white base, right?
Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats OPI Alpine Snow, two coats OPI Blue It Out of Proportion
Top: one coat OPI mini top coat
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The OPI Neon Revolution set was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
OPI Blue It Out of Proportion is a bright neon cobalt blue. We've been seeing lots of variations on these super saturated blues lately (Butler, Please, Baker St., IKB:2012), but I really enjoy them. Blue It Out of Proportion seems to be a bit lighter than those I mentioned, so if you're a fan of this color, you may want this one too.
This is two coats over Alpine Snow. I almost felt I needed a third coat with this one. You can see some streaks/bareness on my ring finger. It was easy to work with and apply, but I do wish it was a bit more pigmented. If you do thin coats, you will want three over white, and since you probably need two coats of white (at least), that's a lot of coats to do.
Overall, I like this neon set. I think the colors are cute and fun. They're bright for summer and that yellow is definitely a winner. However, I always prefer my neons to not need a white base. It's totally possible to make neons that don't need a white base, so next year I would love to see OPI do a collection where the white base was optional, rather than necessary. Also worth a mention, I found the included top coat to be very slow drying, so you may want to layer it under a quick dry top coat.
Limited edition Neon Revolution mini sets will be available beginning July 2013 at professional salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $19.95 ($24.95 CAN) suggested retail for each mini pack (includes all six products).
The OPI Neon Revolution set was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
June 24, 2013
Lynnderella Her Name Is Petal
Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: three coats China Glaze Sun of a Peach, two coats Lynnderella Her Name Is Petal
Top: one coat KnockOut Cosmetics Flatte Top
Application: excellent (for Lynnderella Her Name is Petal)
China Glaze Sun of a Peach and Lynnderella Her Name Is Petal were both purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
I'm trying to wear some of my untried Lynnderellas before purchasing a ton from the latest collection, but one problem I keep having is that some of my Lynn untrieds are rather out of season now. So I'm attempting to devise ways to make polishes from the Christmas, Valentine's and spring collections seem summery. I had no trouble with Lynnderella Her Name Is Petal, a multi-colored, multi-shape glitter concoction with a gorgeous shimmery base. I decided to layer it over China Glaze Sun of a Peach. This is the perfect way to wear Sun of a Peach, by the way, because the streaks are covered over with glitter! Her Name Is Petal is really awesome, it's full of pops of green, purple, blue, red, yellow, and pink, and also has hearts, stars, moons and butterflies!
All of those fun shaped glitters are very plentiful in this polish. I did not have to do any fishing, they came right out to play! This is two easy dabbed coats. I thought the formula was superb, considering how much glitter is in this baby. I topped all this off with a matte top coat. I was in a matte mood and I think it accentuates both the neon-ness of Sun of a Peach and also the shimmer in the base of Her Name Is Petal.
Now that I've tried Her Name Is Petal, I basically want to layer it over everything! I will absolutely be sporting this over China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy at some point this summer!
Her Name Is Petal is available now at lynnderella.com.
China Glaze Sun of a Peach and Lynnderella Her Name Is Petal were both purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
June 22, 2013
More China Glaze Sunsationals!
Base: one coat CND Stickey
Color: three coats China Glaze Too Yacht To Handle
Top: one coat Essie Good to Go
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The China Glaze Sunsationals polishes were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
Today I have swatches of the other two China Glaze Sunsationals I picked up, Too Yacht To Handle and Keepin' It Teal. First up, we have the lovely bright blue-green creme, China Glaze Too Yacht To Handle. This is a great shade for summer, not quite neon, but definitely bright and cheery. I am a huge sucker for colors like this, so it's no surprise that I love this!
Too Yacht To Handle has a pretty good formula. The first coat was a little sheer and streaky, but it was nice and opaque by the second coat, and a third coat evened everything out perfectly. You could most likely just do two coats, but for my catch-every-flaw camera, I did a third.
Base: one coat CND Stickey
Color: four coats China Glaze Keepin' It Teal
Top: one coat Essie Good to Go
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The China Glaze Sunsationals polishes were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
China Glaze Keepin' It Teal is the only jelly I purchased from this collection (so far... I think I want to get Shell-O). This is a very pretty teal jelly that is unique in my collection. I feel like companies tend to do the same colors for jellies all the time, so it's nice to see a couple of different ones! I am not the biggest jelly fan, I only use them for sandwiching. But if you are a jelly fan, Keepin' It Teal is a great one to check out!
This is four coats of Keepin' It Teal. I wanted to see how opaque I could get it, but four coats is my limit, haha. The formula was excellent though, it was completely not streaky and applied so beautifully. I can't wait to use this in a sandwich!
Overall, I love my picks from the China Glaze Sunsational collection. I think I may have to pick up one or two more of the jellies! If you missed my swatches of That's Shore Bright, Sun of a Peach and Highlight of My Summer, check them out here. The Sunsational collection is available now at salons and Sally Beauty!
The China Glaze Sunsationals polishes were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
June 20, 2013
Lynnderella Bird Brain Blue
Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats Illamasqua Caress, two coats Lynnderella Bird Brain Blue
Top: one coat Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Top Coat
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
Lynnderella Bird Brain Blue and Illamasqua Caress were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
I feel like a terrible Lynnderella fan. She has an AMAZING new collection out (Talismans and Birthstones) and I have a ton of untried Lynnderellas from the last couple collections!! Yikes! So, I am trying to wear some of these pretty polishes before I cave and order the new ones. Today's mani actually knocks off two polishes from my untrieds drawer, Lynnderella Bird Brain Blue and Illamasqua Caress. Caress is a lovely pale baby blue creme that manages to be not too streaky. Bird Brain Blue has lots of different neon glitters in various shapes and colors (purple, blue, green, pink), as well as some larger shaped glitters, all in a sheer baby blue base with gorgeous subtle blue shimmer (that I could not capture in pictures!). I found a pale blue heart, a pale blue flower, and a red flower during this mani.
For this look, I did one regular brushed on coat of Bird Brain Blue and one dabbed coat with some glitter placement. During the first coat, I didn't worry about getting too much glitter out, I just wanted to get a little of the base color with the pretty blue shimmer. Then, I dabbed on the glitter pieces where I wanted them and went fishing for a few large shapes. When applied this way, I had no trouble with Bird Brain Blue. I would imagine if you applied it with regular brushstrokes, you would have a hard time getting all the glitter out and where you wanted it.
Lynnderella Bird Brain Blue is available on lynnderella.com now! Do you have your eye on any polishes from Talismans and Birthstones? I want all of them except Opal Intuition and Moonstone Magic. I particularly want Topaz Optimism because topaz is my birthstone!
Lynnderella Bird Brain Blue and Illamasqua Caress were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
June 18, 2013
China Glaze Sunsationals Part I!
Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: four coats China Glaze Sun of a Peach
Top: one coat Poshe
Application: average (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The China Glaze Sunsationals polishes were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
There are few polish collections that I look forward to as much as the annual China Glaze neon collection. Over the years, many of my favorite summer polishes have come from these collections. This year, I bought 5 from the Sunsationals collection and I may decide to pick up one or two more. I started off by swatching China Glaze Sun of a Peach. This is a rather aptly named neon peach creme, as you may find yourself uttering a phrase that sounds a lot like Sun of a Peach while applying this polish. The color of this polish is incredible, it's such a bright peachy color that is unique in my stash.
The formula of Sun of a Peach is the problem here. It's incredibly streaky and sheer too. This is four coats and it really needed four coats to hide any streaks and cover any sheer spots. I found that I needed to let the coats dry completely before applying another coat and maybe go a tad thicker on coats than I normally would. I do think the awesome color is worth the effort occasionally, but I won't be busting this bad boy out on a daily basis. I rated this average on the application because I was able to make it come out ok, but it really leans towards poor.
Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: three coats China Glaze Highlight of My Summer
Top: one coat Poshe
Application: average (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The China Glaze Sunsationals polishes were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
China Glaze Highlight of My Summer is a pretty awesome bright mint creme. It's not quite neon, but it is definitely brighter than most mints we've seen this season. It is brighter than my pictures show and wouldn't photograph nicely, as is often the case with brights. It did give me some lobster hands, but I will wear it anyway!
Although I rated Highlight of My Summer average (the same as Sun of a Peach), the formula is better on this one. It only needed three coats and it was almost OK on two. The streakiness was much much less than Sun of a Peach and it wasn't nearly as sheer. I would say this leans more towards good/average, rather than Sun of a Peach's poor/average.
Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: three coats China Glaze That's Shore Bright
Top: one coat Poshe
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The China Glaze Sunsationals polishes were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
I was really hoping China Glaze That's Shore Bright would have a good formula, because it's a color I really want to wear quite often!! Fortunately, this neon medium purple did not disappoint!! I love this color! It reminds me of My Little Ponies for some reason (that's a good thing, cause I love me some ponies).
This is three coats, but I really didn't need a third coat. That's Shore Bright was note streaky and opaque in two coats. I already have this on my toes!! So pretty! (The bubble you see on my middle name is from my stupid Poshe. I need to stop using it).
I have two more Sunsationals to swatch right now and I hope I'll have those up in a day or so. Do you have your eye on any of these? Do you love the neon collections as much as I do?
China Glaze Sunsationals is available at a Sally Beauty near you!
The China Glaze Sunsationals polishes were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
Labels:
China Glaze,
creme,
green,
mint,
neon,
orange,
peach,
purple,
summer 2013
June 15, 2013
A Longtime Lemming Acquired: Essie Play Date
Base: one coat CND Stickey
Color: two coats Essie Play Date
Top: one coat Essie Good to Go
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
Essie Play Date was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
I've wanted to pick up Essie Play Date for a long time. It seems like every time I ask someone wearing a cute purple polish what it is, they say "Essie Play Date". But, it's in the Essie permanent collection, and I always tend to skip over purchasing permanent items in favor of grabbing the seasonal LE stuff. However, I went looking for Naughty Nauticals the other day (with no luck I might add), and I really was in the mood to buy something. When I saw Play Date sitting there, I finally brought it home. I'm glad I finally did! It's such a perky purple creme! Bright, but not crazy bright, and fun!
The formula is pretty good. It's not quite "paints itself on your nails" quality, but I don't have any real complaints. This is two coats, the pigmentation was good too!
Sometimes I should remember that permanent polishes are pretty too! If you've had a longtime lemming like this, just go get it! You'll be glad you did!
Essie Play Date is available at a CVS near you.
Essie Play Date was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
June 13, 2013
OPI Innie Minnie Mightie Bow
Base: one coat CND Stickey
Color: two coats OPI Innie Minnie Mightie Bow
Top: one coat Essie Good to Go
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
OPI Innie Minnie Mightie Bow was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
To complete my swatches of the OPI Couture de Minnie collection, today's post is the lovely OPI Innie Minnie Mightie Bow. Innie Minnie Mightie Bow is a very pigmented cherry red smooth shimmer. It's the kind of shimmer that you can't see individual shimmer flecks, but it is just all throughout the polish. I know this is a summer collection, but I can't wait to rock the heck out of this polish at Christmas!
Innie Minnie Mightie Bow has a fantastic formula. It is so pigmented that you could probably get away with one careful coat. It has a perfect consistency and glides nicely on to the nail. I can't think of a single complaint here!
Are there probably some similar polishes out there? Yes. But Innie Minnie Mightie Bow has an outstanding formula and great pigmentation, so if you like reds at all (even just at Christmas), I suggest you pick this one up! I think I mentioned this in my original Couture de Minnie post, but I can't get over how much I love this collection, considering that it's filled with reds and pinks (and I don't wear reds or pinks very often!)!
The OPI Couture de Minnie collection is available now at professional salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer.
OPI Innie Minnie Mightie Bow was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.
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