Some fun Valentine's Day colors from Del Sol

Let me start by saying that I'm a BIG fan of Del Sol polishes, and it's probably because there is SO much sun in Arizona. Since many of the polishes change to a pink, red, or maroon in the sun, they make great Valentine's Day colors.

The first one up is Heartbreaker. It's a pretty red glitter indoors - more cool, berry-toned than China Glaze Ruby Pumps (which I actually do not own... can you believe it?! Probably 500+ polishes and I don't even have this cult favorite). In the sun, the color really deepens to a dark berry maroon or burgundy. I would almost call it a dark red grape, but it's not QUITE that purple. Either way it's stunning!

Del Sol - Heartbreaker (shade)

Del Sol - Heartbreaker (sun)

The next one is called Girls Night Out. It starts out as a rosy bright pink with gold shimmer. In the sun it gets very purple, but keeps the gold shimmer.

Del Sol - Girls Night Out (shade)

Del Sol - Girls Night Out (sun)

Next is Pretty in Pink. Indoors it's a white base with HEAVY pink flash. The pink flash really dominates this one, and makes it appear like a pearly cool-toned baby pink. This is three coats, and there is still VNL, but I don't really mind it. Outside it all turns to a soft mid-toned pink. VERY girly!

Del Sol - Pretty in Pink (shade)

Del Sol - Pretty in Pink (sun)

Last but not least, is Secret Crush. It's not really a traditional Valentine's Day polish, but it's my favorite Del Sol polish, so I had to include it. It's such a pretty soft orange coral with a strong blue pearl to it (yes, up close and in the pictures you can see brushstrokes, but I assure you they are not at all noticeable in person - doing three thin coats instead of two thick coats keeps the brushstrokes at bay). Then outside... WOW. It changes to a dusty purple base with that same electric blue pearl, and it's absolutely amazing. I love how much the color changes in this one, and I just adore both "versions" (inside and outside).

Del Sol - Secret Crush (shade)

Del Sol - Secret Crush (sun)

Like I said, I just LOVE Del Sol polishes, but I do have one thing to say about them...

I've heard rumors of "bottles that didn't change color much." I think that this is actually due to the sun available, not the formulation itself. In Arizona, these are wonderful - they change almost instantly and very drastically. However, if you live in a place that's mostly cloudy, you may see little to no change whatsoever. Another thing to note is that if you use any sort of sunscreen (even putting moisturizer with SPF 15 in it on your face using your fingers), there will be NO color change at all. The polishes rely on the UV rays from the sun to change the color, so be sure to try them on days with a high UV index for maximum change.

Also, what do you think of the new larger picture size?

CoverGirl Midnight Forest - Chanel Black Pearl dupe?

I decided to check out my local Dollar Tree yesterday, and happened to find some cool Cover Girl Nail Slicks duos for $1 each. One of them contained this beauty, which I think looks an AWFUL lot like Chanel Black Pearl.

Cover Girl - Midnight Forest

I don't like spending $25 on polishes (I only made one exception for Paradoxal because I found it unique and beautiful enough to justify the price), so I don't have Black Pearl to compare it to. I was using Michelle's photo here on All Lacquered Up for comparison purposes, and I think they are very close!

Another thing to note is that this is NOT big 3 free. It contains Dibutyl Phthalate.

Most Underrated Polish from Anchors Away: Knotty

I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought Knotty might be a suitable match for my skin. In fact, this polish is the most perfect nude polish I've found yet. It's got that glass-fleck sparkle (which is fine by me... the more sparkly the better!) and more yellow/tan tone that most of the nude polishes out there. Just look at how BEAUTIFUL this is!  This is two coats and it's still a tiny bit sheer, but I actually like it that way.

China Glaze - Knotty

In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated polishes from the latest China Glaze collection, Anchors Away. It is my favorite just because it matches my skin so perfectly. Although somehow my camera managed to find a slight color difference, I assure you that in person it's a perfect match.  I know this probably won't work on those with pinker, cooler tones in their skin, but if you have more olive tones, you should give this one a shot!  It's quite sparkly in the sun, but it has a nice clean pearly appearance in lower lighting.

On a side note, how do you like my new blog colors? I thought black and grey were a bit boring (although I liked the neutrality contrasting with the colorful polishes) so I tried green and gold. What do you think? Should I keep it or change it back?

SOPI Metro Chic and Wet N Wild Gray's Anatomy

I saw a girl the other day wearing Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, and it made me want to wear it again, so here it is (2 coats):

Sephora by OPI - Metro Chic

I had recently picked up Gray's Anatomy from the new Wet N Wild FastDry line, and tried it quickly over my old Chanel Paradoxal manicure. It looked really cool because Paradoxal resembled the base color in Gray's Anatomy, but because Gray's is a bit sheer, Paradoxal really deepened it.

So I decided I'd try Gray's over Metro Chic, since it matched the base color even more closely. In my opinion, it's not as beautiful as it was with Paradoxal, but it's still very amazing! (And it's a $1.99 dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Wicked Games!)

Wet N Wild Gray's Anatomy (over SOPI Metro Chic)

That last couple pictures really show the green side of the polish, which is most visible at extreme angles to the light source, though as you can see both the green and purple can be seen together in many views. It's a more subtle duochrome, but still very striking. I recommend layering it over a darker color like Zoya Kelly or Sally Hansen Gray Area.