Loaded Lacquer Disarmed & Dangerous

Nail polish history time diversion....

Believe it or not, there was a time when extreme glittery polish like we are so accustomed to now was very hard to come by. I remember when I first got into nail polish, the most readily available glitter polishes were pitifully sheer glitter top coats. I think I want to give credit to China Glaze with the Specialty Glitter line in Fall 2009, for introducing the nail world to some substantial glitter bombs. I can safely say the glitter bomb has not gone out of style. I don't think it will!

 There are so many varieties of glitters out there now, and we're not getting tired of it. One of my favorite glitter styles to come by in recent years is the shredded glitter. I recently found an awesome shredded glitter by Loaded Lacquer.

Disarmed & Dangerous over Color Club Factory Girl

 Disarmed & Dangerous is a mix of shredded metallic purple, rose, and chartreuse glitter, holographic black micro glitter, and lavender micro flakies.

Color: This is fun mix of colors. The purple, pink, and chartreuse go nicely together, and the holographic glitter and flakies really amp this polish up to make it extra special.

Formula: This formula was easy to work and apply. I used one thick coat above.

Price: This is $10.00 on Loaded Lacquer's website.

Overall: Great fun glitter topper! I love the shredded glitter, the color combination, and the extra glitters that make it this polish pop!

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Thursday!

New Milani High Speed Fast Dry

* The following product was sent to me in exchange for my honest review.

I have for you the new additions to the High Speed Fast Dry line by Milani. 

Aqua Brisk

 Aqua Brisk is a bright aqua creme.

Blue Zoom

Blue Zoom is a bright cobalt blue creme.

Sangria Rush

Sangria Rush is a deep red-violet creme.

Color: These are gorgeous saturated and vibrant colors. I think these are definitely colors that are popular for nail addicts and just your average nail polisher. You really can't go wrong with these colors.

Formula: Ok, so the "One Coat Formula" on these bottles is inaccurate. These required 2 coats. They were easy to apply, and I did not have any noticeable application issues.

Price: These are $4.69 and will be available at CVS.

Overall: I liked these colors. They are bright, on trend, and easy to apply. I really do think Milani needs to do away with the "One Coat Formula" on this line though. That being said, I really don't have any complaints!

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Wednesday!

New Milani Gold Label Cremes & Glitters (Pic Heavy)

*The following products were provided in exchange for my honest review.

I have for you some new Milani nail polishes for 2014. These are new to the Gold Label line and varied mix of cremes and fun glitter toppers!

Cremes

Power Perwinkle

Power Perwinkle is a medium perwinkle creme.

Showy Sea-green

Showy Sea-green is a medium dusty green creme.

Splendid Strawberry

Splendid Strawberry is a medium saturated warm pink creme.

Vivid Violet

Vivid Violet is a saturated lavender creme.

Popping Pink

Popping Pink is a light-medium bubblegum pink creme.

Colorful Coral

 Colorful Coral is a medium coral creme.

Color: This is a great mix of saturated pastel colors. These are exactly the colors that are on trend, and what I'll be reaching for in spring. It is great to see these made by a drugstore brand.

Formula: I had a bit of difficultly with the formula on these. I'm actually thinking this has a lot to with the brush. The Gold Label Milanis have special flat/wide brushes. The brush is thick, as in it has significantly more bristles than other nail polish brushes. I think this causes the application to be streaky, and prevents the polish from leveling. I will be reviewing some new core line Milanis later that had the regular brush, and I did not have any application issues with those. That's why I'm thinking the brush maybe to blame. It's not terrible by any means, but it's noticeable in photos, I had some leveling issues. Top coat does help smooth it out a bit.

Price: These are $4.49 and are available at CVS.

Overall: I love the colors of these cremes. I love the price, and that these are a drugstore brand. The application/formula/brush issues I had are disappointing, but are not a deal breaker.

Glitters

Sugar High over Power Periwinkle

Sugar High is a mix of pastel glitters, red, and gold glitters in a clear base.

Sugar Coated over Showy Sea-green

Sugar Coated is a mix of light green hex, bar, and green holo glitters in a clear base.

Sugar Rush over Splendid Strawberry

Sugar Rush is a mix of white, orange, green, yellow, and gold glitters in a clear base.

Sugar Cane over Vivid Violet

Sugar Cane is a mix of pink bar glitters, purple bar glitters,and white hex glitters in a clear base.

Sugar Burst over Popping Pink

Sugar Burst is a mix of pale pink bar, hex, and holo glitters in a clear base.

Sugar Rim over Colorful Coral

Sugar Rim is a mix of blue, red, yellow, and black glitters in a clear base.

Color: I love these glitter toppers! I don't anything like these either on the mainstream nail polish market or drugstore. These definitely have an indie-esque feel to them. These are creative and fun glitter mixes.

Formula: Formula on these was good, and I used 1 coat over the base for these. They are definitely buildable. I had the most difficulty with Sugar Cane, the bar glitters do stick together so it can be harder to spread.

Price: These are $4.49 at CVS.

Overall: I love these. I love the colors in them. I didn't have application issues, and I think these will look great over many many base colors!

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Monday!

Glitt-A-Licia Guest Post: First Restock

Dear Reader,

 Last time we met, I let you board my crazy train with the destination of a bonafide polish addiction! I told you about my first lemming, my first heart break over a discontinued polish, and my shock and horror of looking for said polish on evilbay. I know we bonded and even shed a tear together over Unicorn Puke. (You know you cried when you saw how gorgeous that polish was! You know what I am talking about. Everyone has that ONE polish that is always out of your reach because you are not a millionaire. I know you cried too! Don't lie, I saw you!).

 Well, today the crazy train is going to stop at my first experience of a restock. This might be a wordy trip, but stay with me, you will be glad you did.

 Ah! Easter morning! What images come to mind?

My mind goes back to the days of my childhood. In my memories, Easter is a beautiful Spring day filled with rays of sunshine, butterflies fluttering, and the smell of honeysuckle filling the air. We would wear our Sunday best (which usually involved a white hat), go to church, then spend time with the family hunting eggs and bragging about the candy the Easter Bunny left for us.

 That was my recollection of Easter growing up, and that was my dream for my tiny family! I woke the kids up (who were one and half, the other six months) to see what the Easter Bunny had brought. Expecting to see excitement, I saw tears and screams because they were tired\hungry. Not how I pictured it, but oh well, I had one major thing to look forward too...The Wicked Polish Restock!!! No screaming could kill that excitement! 2pm I was getting polish!!

 Before the restock, we had a family egg hunt with my inlaws. That should be fun! It was a cloudy with a chance of tornados. Fun!

 We get to to the gathering and my baby girl screamed for two hours straight. My son did not want to speak to anyone. Sigh...My little antisocial family.

 After we finished eating, the egg hunt would start at 1pm (all the while, I am getting very excited as the Wicked restock is getting closer!  2pm baby!!) We all line up, and as soon as they say "Go" we started running!! My son found his first egg and was so proud of himself.

 This was great! It was going so well!!! My hubby was holding the baby so I could chase Jax to get pictures. My son runs off in one direction with his grandfather close by. I turn to my hubby to get a picture of him holding our very grumpy baby girl.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see my son bend over to get an egg. Then he starts screaming his head off! We were only a few steps away, but we both rush to his side. His grandfather had already picked him up from the ground, yet Jax was still screaming. I could tell this scream was from pain.
My hubby freaks out when he sees fire ants crawling all over Jax from head to toe.

J accidentally drops the baby, face first, into the mud. I scream. She screams. We all scream! I scoop her up from the mud and drop Jaxson's eggs. J steps on the eggs and squishes all of them.

About this time, I check the time and see the dark clouds rolling in.
"We are leaving!"
Before we left, they wanted a quick family photo.
I say "Fine, then we are going home!"

As we pose smiling like we are having the time of our lives, Jax pees all over J.

Oh yeah, Good Times!!

At least I had the Wicked restock to perk me up. We are on the road, the kids are asleep, and it is raining so hard J can hardly see the road. I start refreshing two minutes before 2pm when J wants to get into an argument with me. We are trying to basically curse each other in very sweet, calm tones not to wake the kids.

 After we called each other every colorful word under the sun, I look at the time. It is 2:01pm!! I hit refresh and the entire restock was already sold out!!!!

I wanted to punch that man in the back of the head, but I knew he was driving and that would just make us have a wreck.

So readers, I hope you enjoyed the story of my first restock. Trust me, I will never forget it! Lol!!! Now I laugh really hard every time I think about it!!

Do you have a great restock story? I would love to hear it!!!

Till next time, sparkle on!
Love,
Licia

Essie Peak of Chic

I was really excited when I saw the Essie Encrusted Treasures line released. I will say with the exception of Bulguaria (oy vey, sorry I don't care for it), I really liked this entire collection. One of the colors that stood out to me was Peak of Chic. I've never been a fan of bar glitter, but I'm finding I like small bar glitter. I love how Peak of Chic looked like snow in a bottle, so I had to get it.

This polish took some testing to find a right base for it. You could layer this on your own, but it won't fully cover. I can't stand even the slightest mico sliver of my nail showing through a glitter polish. I found a great base to pair it with which I think really highlights this polish.

Peak of Chic over Zoya Trixie

Now, I'll show you my previous attempt using a different base color.

Peak of Chic over Essie Parka Perfect

Peak of Chic is a mix of matte white and silver holographic bar glitters in a clear base.

See the difference? I feel like over a plain creme the cool snowy textured look is lost. It's certainly not bad, but it's not as striking. The metallic silver base really brought out the best in Peak of Chic. This base gave Peak of Chic that snowy/icicle effect.

Color: The color combination is pretty self explanatory here. The white and silver are pretty combo, but I think ti's the bar glitter, the mix of matte, and shiny holo, that give this polish its greatness.

Formula: This isn't the easiest of formulas. The bar glitters do somewhat clump together and want to hang off your nail. I used 2 coats in both swatches above. I was able to make it work without too much effort though. Not a deal breaker.

Price: I paid $8.50 for Peak of Chic. I've seen this available at drugstores and Target.

Overall: I love the effect I got with this over the silver base. I think it looks awesome, however, this one of those polishes where the base can make or break you. This isn't one I think you can just layer on anything and it would look good. I'm betting this would look pretty cool over holographic shades and other metallics though. I personally love it even if it's somewhat of a one-trick pony.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Thursday!