Dior Shadow Swatch + Review

So, I've had these pictures sitting in my arsenal for ages and noticed them when I was browsing through my folders.  Since it's been a while, I don't remember the exact number of coats used but I do believe it was an easy two coats.  I recall the formula being WONDERFUL.  I used Essie Grow Stronger as a base coat and sealed with Out the Door.  I was so absolutely smitten with this polish!

I'm a pretty simple girl, polish wise. I love a bright creme above all, so this polish is a bit outside of my norm.  It also appears a lot darker on the nail than in the bottle (see below), but oh my is it stunning! Shadow is a deep plum, almost jelly base - super pigmented by the way - with some flecks of.. gold? Rose gold? It's a bit of a metallic shimmer fleck-fest. Love!

Essence Colour and Go - Grey-T to Be Here

I've been rekindling my love affair with my Essence polishes and I'm ashamed that this one has gone untried for so long!  I love these polishes, they're a great price and totally decent quality with lots of colors that appeal to me.

Shown above is three thin coats of Grey-T to Be Here over Nailtek II Foundation and sealed with OTD.  It's got a light grey creme base with subtle pink shimmers that peek out just a little bit.  The color and formula was slighty sheer so it took three coats but it builds so nicely that it wasn't even an issue.  The pink/grey color combo works so nicely as well, a pleasant surprise!  My lighting setup washed out the shimmers a bit though, they are a bit more noticeable to the naked eye.

And I know it seems to be totally hit and miss and I'm sure I'm in the minority here but I ADORE the brush.  The shape and width of it completely fits my nails and makes application super easy.  I've seen a decent amount of dislike regarding the brush but I'm personally a huge fan of it.  It's a bit on the wide side so I can see why those with smaller nails/hands might not be too keen on it, though.

Wet 'n' Wild - Wild Shine - Jezebel

Not sure what drew me to this polish; I'm not a huge fan of reds and the shimmery finish, while pretty, isn't usually a favorite either.  I looked at this a few times before finally picking it up.  I've become a lot more picky with my polish purchases the past year or so - a lot of ones I think are pretty don't seem to make it into my collection anymore, but I'm glad this one did!

Jezebel is a darkened red shimmer polish; shown here is two coats over Orly Bonder and sealed with Out the Door.  It was opaque in two, big plus!  Formula was good, a teeeensy bit thick but totally workable.  I forget sometimes that 99c polishes can be good!

 

China Glaze 100 Proof Pink

This polish is incredibly "me"! Absolutely in love with it!

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100 Proof Pink is an older, more hard to find China Glaze that I received as a gift. It's perfect!  It has a bit of a stronger smell since I think it was before the B3F movement but it's not terrible. Shown is three thin coats over Orly Bonder and sealed with OTD.  The polish is my favorite shade of pink in existence with silver shimmers, and lots of them!  Formula was good, just a tad sheer but very buildable.

I wish I had worn this before I compiled my Top 20 of 2012 list, this would definitely be in the top 5 without a doubt!

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Glowy Blue Embers

Every once in a while I'll layer some polishes together and fall in love and want to set up residency on my fingernails, hahaha. I'm currently wearing one of my favorite polish combinations ever and I'm super excited to share with you!

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This is one coat (!) of Zoya Song, with one coat Hits Phenomena Afterglow and one coat Finger Paint Asylum.  The layerings are over a coat of Orly Bonder, sealed with a coat of Gelous and then Out the Door. There's like, a circus-y carnival on my nails.

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Don't forget! The dual giveaway is still active!

The prizes!

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Essence Colour & Go Oh My Glitter!

I'm totally smitten with this polish.  I had gone to my Ulta when they had the BOGO sale for Butter London and checked out the new Essence polishes and picked two of them.  I've not loved a polish like this in a long time.  I think the fun comes from not looking up swatches beforehand, and not knowing it existed either, haha! I just saw it, it looked pretty, so I bought it.

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This is three thin coats of Oh My Glitter! over my usually base and sealed with OTD.  Application was lovely! Dried super quick, just perfect.  I've always like Essence's polishes, these are no different.  The bottles are bigger and a dollar more, but worth it because you do get more.

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China Glaze Flirty Tankini

I was so so so excited to get these when they first came out and when I finally got them, I shelved them for a while.  Once I saw them in person I just wasn't about the China Glaze 2012 Summer Neons anymore, even though I bought most of them.  Maybe its the subtle shimmer, or the fact that they're not-so-neon-neons, I'm not sure but I finally decided to wear this one today.

Sunlight

I took some outdoor photos because I was under the impression that I couldn't capture the color as well as I had hoped, but since they're not true and obnoxious neons, I don't think I needed to.

Sunlight

This is three coats of Flirty Tankini over Orly Bonder and sealed with Out the Door.  The formula was OK on this one, not spectacular, a bit thicker than I had anticipated. You can likely get away with two coats and my coats tend to run thin.

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 I really like the color of this one; it does stand out on my nails and it's a lovely color in itself.

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This does try as a somewhat satiny finish.  I determined it not a true neon due to the fact that I was able to photograph it, and these photos are pretty much color accurate.  Additionally, I'm used to a neon polish having zero sparkle and shimmer, the ones from this collection had either shimmer or were jellies.

Brucci Cali Cat and OPI Black Spotted

So Cali Cat is definitely a polish I bought for its name.  We call two of our cats the "Cali Cats" because my brother sent us this via an airplane when he moved. He lives in California but couldn't house them any longer, so two new additions it was!  I do also love Brucci as a brand in general so I wasn't opposed to the idea of purchasing another polish from them.

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This is 2 coats of Cali Cat over Orly Bonder, sealed with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash.  Cali Cat is a neon green shimmer. I thought maybe I hadn't tightened the lid enough when I swatched it for the OPI Black Spotted nail wheels because it seemed a little goopy.  I added a few drops of thinner and it seemed much more smooth and ready to go.

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It kills me to have to say anything bad about my beloved Brucci, but the formula, even after thinning, was difficult to work with.  I did not like how it applied; it wasn't super streaky but it was thick and difficult to smooth out without get tons of brush strokes. It's a neon shimmer but applies almost like a frost (EEEEEEEEEEK!!) so you can see the brush strokes.

Flash

Despite the formula and application issues, the color is really fun and bright, a great summer color. Makes me sad that Cali Cat won't be a new favorite. I wanted to test OPI Black Spotted on my nails so I figured this would be a great opportunity since it's coming right off anyways.

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This is one thin coat of Black Spotted over the previous manicure sealed with another coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash. The index finger is a bit of a thicker coat, so it didn't do its effect as much, but on my pinky it was a super thin coat, so it spotted a whole bunch!

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Ulta Carnivale Four Piece Mini Collection Swatch & Review

This mini set from Ulta has a little something for everyone. Four different colors with four different finishes was an interesting selling point in this for me.  Most mini sets have the same finish with various colors, I liked the variety in this one.  My friend Melissa got this for me as a gift for passing my Praxis II (yay!) test a week or so ago. This was one of those items I pick up and put down time and time again so it was good to have someone pull the trigger for me. All swatches have CND Stickey for the base coat and Brucci Nail Dryer for the top coat.

Cha Cha, I Want Samba That, Masque-parade, It's the Rio Deal

I'll start with Cha Cha, which is a yellow creme.  I was hoping this one wouldn't suck, but it's a streaky standard yellow 4-coater.  It does look pretty, I like the shade but I don't like four coats.

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This one was most difficult to apply and had the worst formula from the bunch. I've never had any really bad experiences with Ulta brand polish but yellows seem to be everyone's Achilles heel.

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I Want Samba That, whose name is a pun that goes right over my head (I want some of that?), is a green grass fleck, very sparkly!  The formula on this one was decent, 3 coats shown.

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 I recently swatched a Funky Fingers green grass fleck; I prefer the Ulta shade much more.

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Masque-parade is a purple shimmer polish with pinkish-purple shimmers.  The formula on this one was great! So smooth, very opaque. Two coats.

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The shimmer, seen below, is super subtle and hidden, I had some difficulties capturing it.

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It's the Rio Deal is almost a creme. It's got some jelly-like attributes to it, as well.  It falls somewhere right in the middle as there was still some VNL even though I felt it was adequately covered.  The formula for this one was pretty good too actually. Two thin coats.

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It's a fun, very bright red that leans a bit neon. It's a bit of a all-in-one polish considering how many finishes it manages to have.  It reminds me of tomatoes and while I'm not a big fan of reds, this one is certainly memorable.

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The Ulta Carnivale Four Piece Mini Collection is available at Ulta for $7.99 - I'm pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the swatches except for the crappy yellow. It's such a pretty happy shade but the four coats is a deal breaker for me. Which is your favorite?

Revlon ColorStay Calla Lily

I am such a sucker for colors like this lately.  I think I hoard them more than I use them because I don't have patience for more than two coats most of the time, but it's so pretty.  I was able to get this for around $2 when they tend to run around $8 or $9. I stacked some coupons and used instant reward bucks from CVS and I'm so glad I did as I have a difficult time paying more than $5 for a drug store polish.

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This is four coats over Orly Bonder and sealed with Brucci Nail Dryer.  Even at four coats, there is very visible nail line, but I actually liked that.  It softened the look of my natural nails and was somewhat of an "instant french".

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Calla Lily is a super sheer white based polish with subtle golden shimmers.  Being my first ColorStay polish from the Revlon line, I was really impressed with the formula.  Even after four coats, it didn't peel - that's rare for me.

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I imagine of opacity was important to you that Revlon Powder Puff would be a really complimentary base color for this.