Wednesday, March 30, 2011

My precious holos!

You all asked for it in my eariler post!




I couldn't find the perfect picture of Gollum/Smeagol for this, but I thought this was a funny expression. I tried include the most popular holos in here. You can click to enlarge this, and feel free to use it on your blog or save it. 

DISCLAIMER: This is not my photo. I have edited this photo. The bottle pictures are not my photos either. I took them from Google Images from shopping websites where they were not watermarked. If anyone takes an offense to me using these photos or does not feel it is right for me to use them PLEASE tell me, and I will remove this post. 

I know it's probably ridiculous for me to put that, but there are some sour pusses out there. 


Enjoy!

Pink Wednesday: Milani Digital

I have holo fever. Then again, when do I not? I think my holographic polishes are the ones I treasure most. I don't tend to not use them often in fear that holographic polishes will disappear from Earth, and I'll have to go hide in the Misty Mountains and cradle them in my arms and refer to them as "my precious-esses".  For visual reference of this concept please click hereThat being said, I do break them out on occasion and admire them. For Pink Wednesday I have a pretty Milani pink holo for you!

Digital
Digital is a medium pink scattered holo.

I know these are not the most spectacular holos, but I really like them. These are easy to find and come in a handful of colors. If you're looking for a cheap holo fix I think these will suffice! :)

Now, I'm in the mood to watch Lord of the Rings. I only have the extended editions, so that's around 12 hours+ of film? Maybe another day! :P

Happy Pink Wednesday!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Maybelline Blue Brillance

They all can't be winners. I've been very impressed lately with Maybelline seasonal collections. I was excited when I saw initial posts about their new spring collection, but when I got my hands on the colors myself they were very disappointing. These are insanely sheer and require ridiculous amounts of coats to be opaque. I ended up layering this one because honestly I had no patience to layer it for hours!

Blue Brillance over Eva Powder Blue
 

Blue Brillance is intense shimmery/frost pale blue with slight duochrome.

What I intially liked about these is that they were duochrome, but the sheerness of these really negates any good quality this polish has. That being said this does look very pretty layered. I cannot hate it because of this, but I don't think the intention was for these to be layered?

Blue Brillance w/o flash
 
Blue Brillance without the flash you can see is has a purple-pink duochrome effect.

It's definitely hard for me to completely hate these, but on their own they require too many coats and are lacking the dimension which is gained by being layered over a another color. I think Maybelline missed the boat on these. They're not the worst of the worst, but definitely not worth getting. They're pretty layered, but it's something I think you can pass on in my opinion. They're not memorable and probably not something I'll be reaching for in my stash.

Sorry for sounding wishy washy, but that's the best way I can describe it!

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Savina Wisteria

I've become a huge fan of Savina polishes. Every time I got to Nordstrom Rack, I'm more impressed by the color selection Savina has to offer. I'd say with all the colors I see Nordstrom Rack offer probably 60%-70% are colors that are unique to me, or have certain twists to standard colors that make them different. This next purple is a new love of mine.

Wisteria
Wisteria is a vibrant medium lavender with a silver/white glass fleck shimmer.

This kind of reminds me of a lavender creme if it were mixed with Orly Winter Wonderland. It looks like it has that same type of shimmer. This color is awesome. I feel so foolish reviewing colors I love because I don't know what else to say other than "I love it" "it's gorgeous" "awesome!". I think the color speaks for itself. Also, Savinas have .65 fl oz of polish which .15 fl oz more than most polishes. :)

Happy Monday!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

NYX Pacific Blue & Gilded Glitter

Earlier this week I got great nail mail from Cristina at Let them have Polish! She found some polishes she thought I'd like because they reminded her of my RBL dream color idea. She got me these two great NYX polishes. I don't have any NYX polishes so I was excited to get these!

Pacific Blue

Pacific Blue is an intense medium-deep blue shimmer.

Gilded Glitter over Pacific Blue (I adjusted the lighting on this to make it more color accurate, my flash tends to wash blues out for me)
Gilded Glitter is glitter top coat with different shaped gold giltter pieces.

Gorgeous! I love the gold on top of the blue. Cristina was right, this definitely does remind me of my dream color. This looks just like lapis lazuli. Great combination.

Thank you so much Cristina!

Happy Saturday!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Zoya Sunshine Collection Swatches

Today, I have the Sunshine collection for you. Glitter lovers get ready to be amazed! Remember today is the last day to take advantage of the promo!


L-R: Reva, Faye, Rica, Apple, Tanzy, & Kimmy

Reva
 
Reva is a berry red with gold foil-like sparkle.

Faye
Faye is a lavender purple packed with golden foil-like sparkle. This color kind of reminds me of a super amped up version ChG Awakening or Zoya Shivon.

Rica
Rica is a coral toned pink with gold foil-like sparkle.

Apple
 
Apple is a yellow-toned green with gold foil-like sparkle.

Tanzy
Tanzy is a tangerine shade with gold foil-like sparkle.

Kimmy
 
Kimmy is a bright fiery red with gold foil-like sparkle.

These are fan-freaking-tastic! If you love glitter, I'm going to say you *need* these, especially if you are sucker for gold shimmer/glitter. These are not shy on the sparkle,  but have the perfect balance of great color paired with them. These do not disappoint. Unlike the Summertime collection I cannot image these have dupes.

The only issue I had with these is they were inconsistent in formula. Kimmy and Reva were both highly pigmented and only requited two coats, while the rest were more on the sheer side and required 3. Honestly, for these types of shades I'm not complaining. I usually do 2-3 coats anyways, so it's fine by me.

I absolutely adore all of these, but I'm especially impressed by Faye. I would of never imagined a color like Faye. It is such an unpredictable and original color. They could of easily done a vibrant purple with sparkle, but the subdued lavender was a creative choice!

Happy Friday!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Zoya Summertime Collection Swatches

Sorry for the late post, but there is a reason. I received my promo order from Zoya today, and since the promo is ending tomorrow I wanted to make sure to share with you my swatches for those of who still may be debating on what to get!

L-R: Sooki, Areej, Mira, Breezi, Mira, & Tamsen

Sooki
Sooki is a bright cherry creme.

Areej
 
Areej is a light-medium berry fuchsia creme.

Mira

Mira is a medium slightly muted royal purple. This reminds me of a lighter version of China Glaze Grape Pop.

Breezi
Breezi is a slightly muted cerulean blue.

Kieko

Kieko is a medium red-toned grape creme.

Tamsen
Tamsen is a medium red-orange creme. This reminds me of the color of red coral you see in some jewelry. Sooki and Tamsen are definitely not dupes!

That's the Summertime collection for you! Personally, I think with cremes you definitely run the risk of finding dupes to colors easily. I can't think of any dupes off hand to any of these colors, and I'm happy I have them all. That's not to say some of you may not have similar colors in your stash. I do think that out of these I really find Tamsen, Areej, and Kieko the unique to me as far as what is in my personal collection.

I really do love all of these, and on top of being great colors the formula is an A+! What I also love is these are not your typical neon and bright summer colors. These are vibrant colors, but they have a slight muted quality to them. I know that sounds contradictory, but they make a statement without being out of control.

I'll have the Sunshine collection for you tomorrow!

Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Pink Wednesday--China Glaze Ahoy!

It's time for Pink Wednesday again! I have to say my favorite China Glaze polish of all time is Strawberry Fields, and when I saw pictures of Ahoy! I knew this one was definitely going to be up my alley. They are not dupes, but they're definitely related, so I can see why I was drawn to it.

Ahoy!
Ahoy! is a raspberry/magenta deep pink jelly with a subtle golden glass fleck.

This is a great color. What I love most about this color is it could easily be drab, but it's spiced up with the subtle glass fleck and the jelly finish. I also love this color because I don't think necessarily screams a particular season. I know for pedicures I'm always looking for a color that isn't too dark or isn't too bright, and this fits the bill.

Here is a pic of Strawberry Fields, just to add it in. At first before seeing swatches thought these would be similar but they're not.

They definitely have some similarities. Cousins perhaps?

Happy Pink Wednesday!