Pixi Polishes: Swatches and Review

This is the first I'd heard of Pixi polishes. Here are three that are perfect summer colors:

(no topcoat)

(with topcoat)

Pixi - Vivid Coral

Vivid Coral is my favorite of the three. It's bright neon watermelon red-coral jelly that is mostly opaque in three coats and dries with a satin finish. The formula is nice and easy to work with, but it IS a jelly so it still shows a bit of VNL at three coats. But isn't it just SOO juicy? It makes me crave a watermelon Jolly Rancher!

Pixi - Very Violet

Very Violet is bright magenta purple creme that's completely opaque in two coats. A typical neon purple, but I actually don't have any in my collection to compare it to! It's extremely vibrant - much more that the photo shows.

Pixi Very Violet with one coat Max Factor Fantasy Fire

This makes an excellent base for Fantasy Fire that varies from the typical dark blues and purples. It is really glowy in person; you'll have to try it to see what I mean.

Pixi - Paradise Pink

The last one is Paradise Pink, a bubblegum pink creme. This one is quite cool toned and therefore doesn't really flatter my skin. The formula is wonderful: two easy coats and fully opaque. Nice color and application, just not my type.

Overall, I liked two of the three Pixi polishes I tried. I'd really like to see Pixi come out with a wider range of colors, though (greens, golds, and glitters please!).

Pixi polishes are available for $8 each on Target.com but they appear to be on backorder at the moment. Zappos has Pixi polishes as well, but none of the names seem to match, so I'm not sure if they carry these colors.

Atrophie - Bathysphere: Swatch and Review

Unfortunately, I found the atrophie Esty shop a little too late. I saw so many polishes that I loved while looking through the past sales, but the one I wanted the most was a beautiful teal jelly with gold glitter: Bathysphere.

atrophie - Bathysphere

Isn't it squishy and sparkly and AWESOME?! I had almost given up all hope when I decided to post on facebook that I was looking for Bathysphere (and other atrophie polishes) and was SO surprised and excited when I got a reply from someone who had an extra bottle (THANK YOU SO MUCH)! I am so lucky to own this! I have to say, I like it best on the short nails in the listing, and next time I have to file my nails down because of a break I'm definitely wearing this one again.

Now, I know it says that it's named for the Cat Power song (I don't even know if I've heard it), but what it makes me think of is this:

Bioshock Bathysphere

I know, I can't help it. I'm a bit of a nerd. If you like video games and haven't played Bioshock, DO IT. It's such a trip.

Unfortunately, I don't really think there's any way to get atrophie polishes anymore. Hopefully someday in the future the shop will open once more, and if it does I have a whole wishlist of polishes ready!

4th of July Nails

Happy 4th of July!

Right now I'm missing my family in Michigan because we usually have a huge party that lasts all day/night with tons of beer, food, and fireworks. I LOVE family parties!

These are the nails I did to celebrate (I DO get to go over to my grandparent's and have a little party with them and my aunt and uncle). I used Revlon Royal for my left ring finger, China Glaze Phat Santa for my right finger and OPI You Callin' Me a Lyre? for the base on the rest. Then I layered All That Glitters Glitter Glory over the ring fingers and sponged it on in a gradient French over the others. It is very easy to apply with the brush, but I had a little trouble sponging it. I do love the result, though!

I bought Revlon Royal in a drugstore a few months ago, so I think it's readily available. Phat Santa was part of the China Glaze 2010 Christmas collection, but there are a lot of red creme/jellies like it. Glitter Glory was purchased from the All That Glitters Etsy shop, but it doesn't seem to be in stock at the moment. Hopefully it will return!

A Starry, Starry... dupe? CM - Midnight Imposter

I'm not one for buying expensive nail polishes unless they are extremely unique. I'm always on the lookout for cheaper dupes or a way to franken-dupe my own for less. This is a polish I saw on a couple blogs and I thought it looked a lot like Essie's very-hard-to-find Starry, Starry Night.

CM - Midnight Imposter

Midnight Imposter is a rich royal navy blue jelly with lots of small silver hex and square glitters. The formula is wonderful. It is opaque at two coats, but for a little extra depth I used three coats for the pictures and one coat of Cult Nails Wicket Fast on top and it came out glassy smooth. In short, it is beautiful and everything I would hope Starry, Starry Night would be if I ever decided to pay the high prices for it (which I won't... the only time I've spent $30+ on a nail polish was when the money was going to charitable causes).

Now after I've looked up Starry, Starry Night again, I see that it appears to have smaller micro glitter instead of the slightly bigger pieces in Midnight Imposter, but honestly I like the look of Midnight Imposter more. Because the glitter is a little bit bigger and more sparse, it actually looks like individual little stars, and I love how some of the pieces get buried underneath jelly layers to appear to be different shades of blue along with the silver. It's classy and chic indoors and sparkly out in the sun!

I got Midnight Imposter from East Bay Beauty Supply, and the cost and shipping was very reasonable in my opinion. I feel like I've seen CM polishes in store as well, but I can't remember where.

Dandy Nails - Come Out and Play and You Set My Soul Alight: Swatches and Review

Another indie/Etsy brand! This time it's Dandy Nails. I had been contemplating Come Out and Play for a long time, and finally caved and bought it, along with You Set My Soul Alight and Colorblind (but I haven't figured out which color to layer Colorblind over yet).

Dandy Nails - Come Out and Play

Come Out and Play is a beautiful fuchsia-purple jelly base with lots of small white glitter and is opaque in two coats. This one has the "jelly sandwich" look where some of the glitters get buried in the purple jelly to create extra depth. It's so simple, yet so stunning. The brush was a bit "fluffy" on this one, but I hear Dandy Nails has nice new brushes that are a lot better.

Dandy Nails - You Set My Soul Alight

This one is a charcoal/black jelly base with multicolored micro glitter. Again, this one has a lot of depth (I love glitter in jelly bases!). At the same time, it's not to flashy in dim light, so it'd still be elegant enough for a formal setting. I didn't know how much I'd love this one until I tried it on. It's gorgeous!  I should have gotten pictures in the sunlight to show how sparkly this one can be!

I have yet to find an awesome base for Colorblind, but I'll definitely post it when I find something fun!

Dandy Nails polishes can be purchased from the Dandy Nails Etsy shop and retail for $8 for a 15mL bottle. If the one you're looking for isn't in stock, don't worry - the shop is restocked pretty often!

OPI NY Ballet Collection: Swatches and Review

This was an unexpected love for me. I'm not usually the sheer/pink/nude type, but something drew me in: these are beautiful, elegant JELLIES! I've been crazy about the glitter/jelly sandwiches lately, and I have a feeling these would be perfect for them!

OPI - My Pointe Exactly

This is my favorite. My Pointe Exactly is a light grey jelly that is semi-opaque at three coats (shown). Even with a bit of VNL, I still loved the look of this. Elegant and edgy at the same time!

OPI - Don't Touch My Tutu!

Don't Touch My Tutu is a nice clean white jelly. Along the same lines as Essie Marshmallow but a little bit more sheer, I think it would work even better for the glitter sandwiches. I love the way white jellies make glitter look like sprinkles on a cupcake.

OPI - Care to Danse

Care to Danse is a light purple jelly. The bottle looks more purple than it appears on the nail.  I'm not sure, but this may be my second favorite.

OPI - Barre My Soul

Barre My Soul is a very nice peachy beige jelly.  This would be a lovely base for a French manicure!

OPI - You Callin' Me a Lyre?

You Callin' Me a Lyre is a a peachy pink jelly that's more saturated than the others in this collection. Again, it'd be a great base for a French manicure base.  I think of the collection this was the most opaque at three coats.

OPI - Pirouette my Whistle (over each of the colors above)

Pirouette My Whistle is a clear base with silver micro glitter and large white/silvery pearl hex glitters. Most pictures of this at one coat didn't have too many white hexes, but my bottle seemed to be packed with them. I had to actually TRY not to get too many because I wanted a sparse look. Either way, it's quite elegant for a glitter. I think I like this even better than Nubar White Polka Dot.

All of these applied very nicely and easily in three coats, although it seems easiest to avoid streaks by using medium-thick coats. I suggest waiting a few minutes between each coat to prevent bubbling as well. They do kind of self-level though, which is a plus.

OPI is available at Ulta stores as well as in JC Penney Salons. I prefer JC Penney because if you buy two or more, they're only $6 each instead of $8.50 at Ulta.

Paris Sparkles - Chataigne and Cobalt Surprise: Swatches and Review

Most of the polishes I've bought in the last two months have been from Etsy shops. Here are two from a shop called Paris Sparkles: Chataigne and Cobalt Surprise.

Paris Sparkles - Chataigne

Chataigne (which is "chestnut" in French, I believe) is a tinted auburn base with small tan and medium silver holo glitter. This is my favorite of the two, especially since I recently discovered my love for brown glitter. It's just incredibly flattering and sparkly! It takes three coats to build up to be opaque, but it seems to dry quickly so it's not a hassle at all. It requires a coat of Gelous and Seche Vite to be smooth.

Paris Sparkles - Cobalt Surprise

Cobalt Surprise is a royal blue jelly with lots of small silver and medium silver holo glitters. I think it originally had pink and/or purple glitters, but they may have bled off their colors into the base. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful royal blue glitter that's easily opaque in two coats. This, too, requires a coat of Gelous and Seche Vite to be glassy smooth.

Chataigne and Cobalt Surprise (as well as MANY other beautiful polishes) are available in the Paris Sparkles Etsy shop for $7.00 for a full-sized (15mL) bottle.

butter LONDON - Bumster and Flawless Basecoat: Swatches and Review

Today we have butter LONDON Bumster:

butter LONDON - Bumster

Bumster is a peanutbutter/mustard creme that is fully opaque in two coats. It has a marvelous formula and glides on very easily. This is one of those colors that looks good on some and not on others, though. The warm tones in it tend to clash on cooler skin tones. I personally love how it looks on me! Very chic, egdy, and out of the norm.

I was excited to try Bumster, but once I actually got it I noticed that it looks quite familiar. Bumster is a near dead-on dupe for American Apparel Trenchcoat (which in turn is a dupe for Finger Paints Catwalk Queen).

butter LONDON Bumster and American Apparel Trenchcoat

Trenchoat is a tiny bit cooler than Bumster, but if I didn't know I had two different polishes on I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  Also, you can see the orange pigment has separated in my bottle of Trenchcoat, so it could be even closer than you see here!

butter LONDON also sent me the base and top coats to try out.  I'm not too big of a fan of the top coat.  It dries on the surface fairly quickly, but it tends to leave brushstrokes in the shiny finish as it dries (you can actually see them if you click on the first picture of Bumster above)

However, I'm kind of in love with the base coat (Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat).

butter LONDON - Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat

First of all, it's a GREAT ridge-filler.  It fills in all imperfections and gives you a nice smooth base for under your nail color of choice...  if you choose to wear one.  Which brings me to my next point:  I love how this looks on it's own.  It's a nude jelly that dries to a silky finish.  The bottle claims "matte results so beautiful, you can wear it alone."  And I have, and it looks so elegant!  It's a wonderful palette cleanser in between all the crazy colors and glitters that I wear!

I'm notoriously bad at testing wear (because I like to change my nail polish so often), so I don't have a good grasp yet for how well this holds on nail polish.  I have had it on under Expecto Patronum (with a coat of SV on top) for three days now with no chips or tipwear at all, though!

butter LONDON polishes can be purchased off of their website or at Ulta (in stores and online).


(These products were sent to me for review.)

Dollish Polish - Expecto Patronum: Swatches and Review

I just can't get enough of these indie polishes... especially the pastel/white jelly bases with glitter! (I'm currently on a mission to get NailVenturous Robin Laid an Egg!)

Dollish Polish - Expecto Patronum

Like Pretty & Polished Jawbreaker, this is a nice squishy white jelly that is opaque in 2-3 easy coats (3 shown). There is a mix of small and medium teal holo glitter, as well as some larger teal hex glitters, and subtle orange flakies. The flakies don't show well in the picture, but then again they don't show too much in person either - just a flash of orange every once in awhile. I love how some of the glitter from the first coat(s) get buried underneath the white jelly to give it different shades of teal and some depth.

The only quirk with this polish that I've found is that the large hexes are not flat... instead they are very chunky and ruin the smoothness of the polish. I think Dollish was having a problem with some glitter in another of her polishes, Hip Hop Hippity Hop, and this one seems to have the same issue. I think she was working on resolving the glitter issue in Hip Hop, so I imagine Expecto Patronum will be fixed as well. For now, I just don't shake the bottle and let the big hexes fall to the bottom so I don't get any on the brush. The other glitter and flakies still seem to suspend nicely.

Here is a picture of the cute mini bottle. These bottles are pretty tiny, but it's great to be able to sample lots of polishes for less! I love Expecto Patronum so much that I'm looking to buy a full sized bottle once the glitter is fixed!

Expecto Patronum is available on the Dollish Polish Etsy shop, but business has been booming so much that she's been opening and closing the shop to be able to keep up with orders. Sign up to be notified when she reopens if you're hoping to get this beauty!

Nerd Lacquer - FROM SPAAAAAACE Collection: Swatches and Review

This is, I believe, one of Nerd Lacquer's first collections. All three are beautiful jelly bases packed full of glitter.  I was lucky enough to nab these the last time Nerd Lacquer opened shop.

Nerd Lacquer - Nebula

This is my favorite (surprising since I usually go for greens)! This one is incredibly juicy and sparkly! It's a rich red grape burgundy jelly base with lots of small red, blue, and holo multicolored glitter as well as medium red and royal blue glitter. The royal blue glitter is my favorite because it's a wonderful indigo color when it peeks out of the layers of jelly! This is two easy, smooth coats - one of the best glitter formulas I've seen in a nail polish! A coat of Gelous then Seche Vite makes it glassy smooth

Nerd Lacquer - Event Horizon

My second favorite. Event Horizon is a dark teal jelly base with teal and silver and gold holo glitter (from what I can tell). Again with the juicy, gorgeous jelly base! I didn't put a top coat on for this swatch, but it is just as smooth as Nebula with Gelous and Seche Vite. Two easy coats with the same fantastic formula. It's a tiny bit more green than it shows in the picture.

Nerd Lacquer - Quasar

Quasar is a swampy green jelly base with tons of green and silver holo glitter. Two coats and no topcoat shown. Even though greens are normally my favorite, this one had tough competition with Nebula and Event Horizon. Even so, it's quite beautiful, and I'm really glad I got the set of the three.

This collection is so yummy. I love the squishy jelly bases in all of them, and the glitter combinations are just stunning. Chunky large glitter is cool, but my favorite glitters are the mixes of small or micro glitter with some medium contrasting glitters mixed in (like Big Money and Diamond in the Rough).

These can be a bit tricky to get a hold of because of the shop's popularity. Last time the shop opened, they sold almost 1500 bottles in 18 hours and had to close to make sure they could meet their 5-7 day shipping quota. These can be purchased directly from Nerd Lacquer's Etsy shop, as well as at Harlow & Co, and Ninja Polish. You can sign up to be notified when Nerd Lacquer's shop reopens or when the products are in stock on the other two sites.

butter LONDON - Disco Biscuit: Swatch and Review

This was another that I'm not sure WHY I decided to order it but ended up being very happy I did!

butter LONDON - Disco Biscuit

Disco Biscuit is a bright (almost neon) fuchsia jelly with iridescent blue micro glitter. I LOVE the glitter in this one. I would have never thought of this combination of colors, but it's quite stunning! I used three coats to build up the opacity (it IS a jelly after all), then did a coat of Gelous and Seche Vite to make it perfectly glassy smooth.

butter LONDON polishes can be purchased at Ulta (in stores and online) as well as the butter LONDON website. They retail for $14 each.

Pretty & Polished - Jawbreaker: Swatches and Review

This was one of those days where I felt like I couldn't find something that I'd be satisfied with on my nails. Then I decided to try out Pretty & Polished Jawbreaker, and it was PERFECT.

(sun)

(shade)

Pretty & Polished - Jawbreaker

Doesn't it look JUST like those jumbo jaw breaker candies? I love how it gives the jelly/glitter sandwich look in just one polish. This is three coats shown, but it really only takes two coats to be fully opaque. You can also layer it over white to conserve it, but I recommend using a white jelly like Essie Marshmallow to preserve that squishy look.  The glitter is random, but is dense enough that it's not hard to get the nails looking "even" but still unique.  Just a wonderful polish!  I wish I would have gotten the full size instead of the mini...

Jawbreaker is available in mini and full sizes ($4.50 for 5mL and $8.00 for 15mL) in the Pretty & Polished Etsy shop, but goes in and out of stock a bit because they're all hand made. Be sure to check the shop regularly!

Zoya - NYFW Peter Som Collection: Swatches and Review

I'm not really sure what made me spontaneously buy the Peter Som collection from Zoya during NYFW (probably the fact that it was LE and had free shipping), but I'm glad I did!

Zoya - Audrey

Audrey is a pale, sheer pink jelly that has a nice glossy finish. This was the one I was most excited about because of its "revolutionary magical gel look." And the finish IS very nice, but the color is a bit uneven on its own. Not really streaky, but just more sheer in some spots and more opaque in others. Very light and feminine, and I like how it looks with three coats (shown).

Zoya - Katharine

My favorite of the collection. Katharine is a subdued plum/raisin jelly (it looks more eggplant in the bottle though) that is quite sheer on the first two coats, but builds up into a nice squishy jelly finish. For this swatch I used three thin coats, but I think it looked a little better the night before when I tried it with slightly thicker coats. Either way, it looks more even in person than in the pictures.  I love that this is a more dusty/greyed shade of red purple.  So chic and juicy.

Zoya - Evvie

Evvie is a very opaque dark sage grey creme. The only creme in the collection, it is completely opaque in two easy, thin coats. Again, very chic with a little bit of edge. Zoya really hits it home with their greens and this is no exception. I think it is also neutral enough to complement a variety of skin tones from cool to warm. Simple, but quite flattering.

Overall I'm quite impressed with this whole set. All of the shades are nice, and Audrey is so unique! Unfortunately, the set was limited edition for NYFW and is currently sold out, but I've heard rumors of these colors making it into the Zoya core line this fall or so.