3 Concept Eyes Nail Polish

Ever since my last attempt at trying Korean nail polish (Lioele), I've made a point to stick to brands I know when making any new purchases. It had been a while since I had visited Sune and they often switch up brands that they carry so I thought I'd give the store a browse. A bright red glitter polish caught my eye for just $5 but then I spotted the 3 for $12 deal and I just had to pick up 2 more.

Left to right: PE01, SD05, and SD06

Deborah Lippmann: Boom Boom Pow

So this is a bit late for the Christmas holiday, but this polish and this combination actually works out very well for Lunar New Year too, which was on January 31st! With Valentine's Day headed our way, I figured this would work too.

Nail Pattern Boldness: Glitter-A-Peel

I love glitter nail polish, but I absolutely hate removing it, especially the chunkier kinds. So, I finally caved and bought Nail Pattern's Boldness' Glitter-A-Peel and have been testing it out for the last two months.

Deborah Lippmann: Glitter and Be Gay

It seems this holiday was one for nail polish as gifts, glitter nail polish to be exact. Admittedly, I did request for specific Deborah Lippmann shades but it wasn't my idea to begin with and the other polish was an unexpected surprise. So in the end, I ended up with 3 Deborah Lippmann glitters and one ButterLONDON glitter and a reputation for having decked out nails apparently.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: Confetti Punch

It's been a few weeks since I picked up this little bottle of glitter fun. I really liked the contrasting colors in it and couldn't resist especially since the Xtreme Wear line is rather affordable.

OPI: Haven't the Foggiest

With the release of the OPI San Francisco collection, I really couldn't help but purchase at least one of the shades available. My brother was with me while I was in the selection process and we narrowed it down to Haven't the Foggiest. My brother and I do love our fog since we basically feel like melting once the temperatures start hitting the 70s °F.

Haven't the Foggiest stands right next to the fence in nearly being gun metal, but at the same time definitely not. Although silver in color, it is not as bright as the usual slivers available out there. I have seen this shade described as a shimmer, but I can't agree and would prefer to call it a foil. You can't see the foil texture in my photo because this shade is seriously light reflective and I was dealing with the ever changing sky of San Francisco for lighting.

The formula went on so smoothly, this was one of the fastest manicure sessions I had. I will admit that there are some faint signs of brushstrokes but once I had my topcoat over it, those strokes became unnoticeable. This polish was also only a two coater although I would say one coat is possible because the color is so dense. Overall, I'm really pleased with this polish.

On a side note, I have started a new job that is keeping me very busy with nearly 9 hour work days and it requires taking work home to do as well on most days. I also plan to go back to school for basically 9 months (I just mailed my application last week). My free time to update on this blog will be cut down greatly but I don't plan to stop. I did want the reason for the lack of updating to be known though. Thanks!

Color Club: Over the Moon

Here I am with another Color Club holo polish. This one is also from the Halo Hues 2013 collection and just as awesome as Miss Bliss.

Color Club: Miss Bliss

I've had this holographic gem for a couple of months now, but never got around to actually trying it until now. I blame Cuti-CLUE-les since her recent post of her own Color Club holographic nail polish prompted me to finally pull out mine for my current manicure.

Zoya Pixie Dust: Liberty

Say hello to my new favorite summer color! Everytime I look at this shade, I wish I had picked up the other summer Zoya Pixie Dusts, but then I remember that I was able to see the swatches on a nail wheel in person and this blue, goodness gracious, was the most vibrant of them all.

L'oreal: The Palace Life

I had planned for my next post to be eye make up related, but I loved my new manicure so much that I had to share it! Strangely enough, although I have way too much nail polish in my possession already, I didn't own any sort of pastel pinks before this one.

I'm aware I'm late to the game on this one, but for some reason the Versailles Romance collection was impossible to find where I lived. I came across The Palace Life quite by accident at Target. I can't say that this shade is especially unique, but it does go well with the soft colors so popular during spring. I needed 3 coats to achieve full opacity though. I think I could  have done it with 2 coats but that would have required thicker layers and the drying time for this polish wasn't as fast as I would have liked it to be. I also needed a top coat to really even out the look as well. I would say this was a decent polish overall, though not the best I've tried.

For accents, I layered Sonoma Nail Art's Parasol glitter over The Palace Life. I bought this a month or two ago, but never got the chance to try it out. I can't believe I waited so long, it looks fantastic. I'm currently thinking of other shades I can layer Parasol over.

Sinful Shine: Pragmatic

Today I bring you Pragmatic, a lovely purple shade from the new Sinful Shine line that is exclusively at Walgreens. This line promotes something called "Gel Tech for ultimate gloss." Each bottle is sold for a pretty affordable $2.99.

China Glaze: Fade into Hue

I have to confess that, recently, I totally splurged on nail polish I don't actually need. However, this store I went to had such great discounts and that included some of the more current collections! I was able to get a couple of China Glaze polishes for just $3 a pop. Zoya was only $4 and the Pixie Dust collection was just $0.50 more. I believe OPI was $5, of which I really couldn't help but buy Which is Witch at that price. And, I was finally able to get my hands on Color Club for $2.50 a piece, although their holo polishes were $7, but considering I can't find Color Club anywhere in San Francisco, I picked up a few also.

So moving on from my gushing about the great deals I encountered, I picked up Fade into Hue from the Avant Garden collection from the very same store I've been going on and on about in this post. It's a wonderful hazy periwinkle creme shade. The only other color I've seen that carries the same type haziness of color is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Delphinium, which is one of my absolute favorites. Personally, I think Fade into Hue is the perfect shade for spring in San Francisco. 

Application was relatively smooth. Most of the time, I was able to get completely even opaque color in two coats. There was one or two nails that needed a third coat though. The overall formula was quite nice. I experienced no streaking and I found the drying time to be quick.  I spent a quiet no fuss evening painting my nails with this shade and the process wasn't driving me up the wall, unlike another Avant Garden shade...ahem, Mimosa's Before Mani's.

If you're looking for different type of pastel than your usual Easter egg kind of shades, I highly recommend Fade into Hue.

Etude House: Juicy Cocktail Gradation Nails

Last week my mom returned from her vacation in Vietnam. Before she left, I had asked her to buy some Asian beauty products. However, it turns out that my favor turned out to be harder than anticipated. The only brand she was able to find sold reputably was Etude House.

CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant: Timeless Rubies

As I was buying my Maybelline Color Tattoo, Inked in Pink, I couldn't just pass by the spinning CoverGirl display without having a peek. And so goes my downfall because I spotted a metallic/foil looking nail polish in a very pretty shade. This is how I ended up leaving the drugstore with 2 beauty products I really shouldn't have splurged on.

China Glaze: Glistening Snow

So here I am, back with a Black Friday purchase that wasn't actually part of any Black Friday deals. The Sally Beauty Supply I visited was actually near a Best Buy, so while my brother visited there, I went to check out the holiday nail polishes and it looks as though holo glitters and such are going to be the next big thing in nail polish from what previews I've been able to glean lately.

NYX Girls: Robotic

So I'm back with another NYX Girls polish. I decided to try one of their darker colors this time around and I of course bought it from the Variety Shop since they sells these for just $1.25.

Essie: A Cut Above

I completely broke down and picked up two of the sequin top coats from Essie's Luxeffects line. I have been lusting after A Cut Above and Stroke of Brilliance for months now, but couldn't justify buying glitter polish when I don't wear it as often and I dislike the removal process immensely. However, both are so pretty in the bottle itself and the swatches I've seen make them both look so versatile, so I decided to end the cycle of denial and want, once and for all.

Here I have A Cut Above layered over Orly's Faint of Heart. Excuse the dryness seen, yesterday involved a lot of hand washing using soap that just draws all the moisture out of my skin. The soap was just too rough and there was no other alternatives.

A Cut Above is a rose toned pink glitter that consists of small round glitter plus hexagonal  glitter of differing sizes in a clear base. I only needed to use one coat to get the coverage seen in the photo. The application was nice although the glitter did move around a bit for me, but at least the glitter wasn't sparse on the brush. I also like the fact that the clear base wasn't a thick, gooey mess.

I don't go out of my way to choose Essie nail polishes most of the time because I don't prefer their formula or brush, but the Luxeffects collection has been really eye catching. I suppose it's about time I finally jumped on this bandwagon.

butterLONDON: Scuppered

I was totally naughty this past weekend and splurged on nail polish that I shouldn't have had. But my weakness is metallic foil types of polishes and when I came across butterLONDON's new holiday collection, I couldn't help but browse and fall in love. Most of the collection were glitter polishes, except for two, Scuppered and Jack the Lad, which are described as shimmers.

Scuppered is a deep copper foil with underlinings of magenta, plus two sizes of green glitter laced through. Can you see why I couldn't help myself? I never thought I'd be describing this combination of colors in one polish! There's so much going on with it, I had a hard time getting my camera to focus for photographs. The level of shimmer is also fantastic on this one, especially under sunlight.

The formula for this one is quite nice, if a bit on the thick side. But it did not at any point turn into a goopy mess for me. I did need a total of three coats for complete opacity, however, the drying time wasn't too long so it didn't prolong my manicure session.

When my nails catches the light just right, I can definitely see all the facets of Scuppered in play. It's such a pretty shade for fall and winter. I am just charmed with  it. I may be out $14 but I think Scuppered was completely worth it.

NYX Girls: Dreamy Glitter

Today, I have quite a cute and fun glitter to showcase. I personally like the NYX Girls line of nail polish a great deal and I am very excited that a local store is now carrying nearly the entire selection of polish shades. I have no idea why, but this particular stores sells them for only $1.25 a pop, but I'm not going to complain about quality nail polish for cheap.

Dreamy Glitter is a mixture of iridescent tiny round and hexagonal glitters, plus pale pink star shaped glitters all suspended in a clear base. The coverage is rather thin even though the formula is thick so you could definitely end up in a situation where you brush off all the glitter you had just applied trying to place those bigger star shaped glitters. In addition, those star glitters are tricky to coax out of the bottle as well. What is great about the formula is that there's enough time to work with the glitter since the clear base won't quickly turn into a streaky or gooey mess. That does mean that there is a bit more drying time needed, but not much.

Since I would usually automatically want to layer glitters like this over pastel type of colors, I decided to try the opposite. My base is Revlon Colorstay in Midnight, a deep teal creme. Although, I love the effect, photographing the color was a pain since teal type shades never come out true for me. However, in person, the combination is so whimsical and cute. The iridescent tone of the glitter takes on more of a golden and greenish glow because of my base shade. I did have to apply 2 to 3 layers of topcoat  though, which sounds excessive but the points on those stars are persistent in poking through and that can lead to the star glitter peeling off partially once a point gets caught on clothing and such.

If you're ever in San Francisco, I suggest you visit the Variety Shop, where I purchased my NYX polish and most of all my other NYX cosmetics too. L.A. Cosmetics and Red Cherry lashes are also available there among the hundred other random things they sell. They also have a second store a few blocks away on 7th Avenue which is just a newer version of their original store.

Maybelline Color Show: Metal Icon

Welcome back fall shades! I've been rather excited to be dipping into all my fall nail colors and the first one I decided to start with was Maybelline's new limited edition Color Show polish in Metal Icon.

To be honest, I had to spend quite a bit of time deciding on how I would describe this shade. At the moment, I'm satisfied with calling it a smokey gunmetal grey color with copper or bronze particles mixed in. If I spent anymore time trying to decipher the composition of this polish, I'd probably go cross-eyed quick. The coppery addition really warms up this polish while giving more depth and texture. I also really love the fact that this color is so wearable and matches with almost everything. It's definitely a classy but edgy shade without being too loud.

The application was wonderfully easy and smooth with this one. I did have to use 3 coats to have a completely even opaqueness though. Clean up was a bit tricky because all the little bits of shimmer are rather stubborn, but that seems to be a regular issue whenever I use foil type polishes anyways.

The one bummer is the fact that all the Color Show polishes are only 0.23 fl. oz. for $5.49 at my local Walgreens. Maybelline really skimped on the amount of product being sold with the Color Show line. The bottle shape is also deceiving since I thought it was around standard size when I purchased it and didn't bother checking the numbers. I later compared it to one of my Wet n' Wild Chrome bottles, which is 0.29 fl. oz and the Maybelline bottle looked like the bigger one. So I'd definitely wait for some sort of sale before picking up any more polishes for Maybelline in the future. In the mean time, since I already own Metal Icon, I'm going to enjoy it.