Happy Halloween - Island Girl Hawaiian Color Swatch

Happy Halloween!!

I know this looks like China Glaze Fortune Teller, but it's actually Island Girl Hawaiian Color. I wanted so bad to find Fortune Teller a while ago, and when I finally got this polish while in Vegas I was so happy! I don't have both to compare them obviously, but I understand that they are close anyway. Good enough for me! The base color in this is a little brown so I layered one coat over black (China Glaze Liquid Leather, 2 coats) to get a nice black and orange for Halloween.

Island Girl Hawaiian Color over China Glaze Liquid Leather

OPI The Show Must Go On and Orly Rock It Swatches

Today I have a couple of pink/red/orange duochromes for you. I like these for fall, but they seem like they'd be fitting for summer as well. I put Orly Rock It on today and it reminded me I had pics of OPI The Show Must Go On to post as well. Both of these seem to have lots of pink/red/orange duochrome foil flecks in them but with different base colors.

The first up is OPI The Show Must Go On.

OPI - The Show Must Go On

The duochrome in this one is quite strong and beautiful. While I'm not much a pink fan, I very much enjoy this one.


Next is Orly Rock It from their current fall collection:

Orly - Rock It

The duochrome in this is much less pronounced and (unfortunately) is a lot harder to catch. I love the orange end of the spectrum in this one, but it can only be seen at certain angles. Nevertheless, it is still gorgeous. A beautiful rich dark magenta that turns crimson and a kind of burnt orange.

I know sometimes (a lot of times?) I forget to comment on application. Honestly, it's probably because I don't much care how hard it is to put on. If I love a color enough, I'll go through hell and back to have it on my nails. I'll try to include the number of coats and a little comment on application if I remember from now on though. These were both two coats and had very easy, smooth application. Removal is a slight pain just because of all the sparkly particles.

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Amber Ruby Swatch

Here is another of the Sally Hansen Nail Prisms line:  Amber Ruby.  This is one I love so much I had to get a backup bottle of it.  It has a strong duochrome/multichrome shift between red, copper, gold, and green (and apparently it goes all the way to blue, but it can only be seen in the underwater pictures).  I swatched it recently but was unsatisfied in my capture of all of the colors, so I re-swatched it over OPI Royal Rajah Ruby and it seems to bring out the colors just a tad more (two coats Royal Rajah Ruby, one coat Amber Ruby).

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms - Amber Ruby

What can I say? It's just STUNNING. See the beautiful mossy green on the edges? Yes, it does show up like that in person. In low lighting this polish is constantly shifting between all of its colors. It also has a very nice metallic finish without showing brushstrokes. Here's a picture taken at an angle where you can see the mossy green by itself:

And now for the underwater pictures (I love taking these - it's so fascinating!)

*gasp* I can't help it - it's so wonderful.

And here is OPI Royal Rajah Ruby on it's own, which is quite nice in itself!

Lyderella Swatches!

I just received my order from Lynnderella's latest sale yesterday and I just couldn't wait to try them! She sure does make some doozies! Just look at these beauties! If you love glitter, you NEED to keep watch for her next sale (she only opens shop for a small bit of time every few weeks - this last time she was only open for some 15 minutes before she was swamped with orders!).

Lynnderella - Cauldron Drippings over Essence - Get the Fever

This is Cauldron Drippings over Essence Get the Fever. So many pieces of pretty copper/orange glitter with some random bits and pieces thrown in (whatever is in the cauldron, she says). It's just a perfect Halloween polish. I did like it over orange, but I decided I'd try it over black and it's EVEN BETTER!  I will definitely be wearing this on Halloween, no question.

Lynnderella - Cauldron Drippings over China Glaze - Liquid Leather

Lynnderella - The Glittering Crowd over China Glaze - Liquid Leather

So most glitters have a couple colors and may contain a couple different shapes. But not this one. According to Lynnderella, this polish contains over ONE HUNDRED different types of glitter, and because of this, every finger comes out different. Also, all of the Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday dupes (I don't have the original) look dull in color compared to this one. The colors are so vibrant and varied that it's the biggest rainbow in a bottle I've ever seen. This is THE BEST rainbow glitter EVER. I'm wearing this for my mom's birthday this Sunday!

Lynnderella - Very Pretty Vampire over Essie - Bordeaux

Very Pretty Vampire is not as "blingy" as the others, but it's just as gorgeous. It's a mix of all different shades and hues of red and burgundy (and even black I believe). I layered this over Essie Bordeaux, but it appears that the base itself is tinted. I may have to try it on its own sometime.

Lynnderella - Connect the Dots over China Glaze - High Hopes

Connect the Dots is one of those truly unique but kind of simple ideas. It's just black and white glitter, but in all different shapes and sizes, including string or bar glitter. It's totally awesome, but I had trouble getting the glitter to look any kind of "even" between all the fingers. Nevertheless, it turned out amazing anyway, and I love the shimmer in the base. Also, I like how a smaller black hex ended up right in the middle of a white one on my ring finger - so cool! I SHOULD have layered it over orange for more Halloween vibe, but I didn't think of it until just now.

Lynnderella - Snow Angel

Last is Snow Angel. I may have mentioned before that I was obsessed with finding a white glitter polish. Well, this one takes the cake. It's been mentioned that it is hard to work with, and after the first perfectly even coat I thought "no way!" However, the second coat was a little rougher, and you can see it doesn't come out quite even. Maybe letting each coat dry in between or even putting Seche Vite in between each coat would help, I dunno. I wish I would have gotten a picture at one coat because it was so dainty and delicate and I liked it better. I'd also like to try it over some greys and a white like Essie Marshmallow.

I'm so incredibly excited that I was able to get an order in this last sale, and I can't wait to see what she has to offer in her next sale!

OPI Let Them Eat Rice Cake Swatch

I'm reluctant to take Icing Blackout off, so for now, here's an older swatch of OPI Let Them Eat Rice Cake.  Nice palette cleanser in between the more crazy, bright or dark colors.

OPI - Let Them Eat Rice Cake

Essie Little Brown Dress Swatch

Here is Essie Little Brown Dress. Another nice fall color, but not much to say about it. Just a nice brown creme.

Essie - Little Brown Dress

Icing Blackout Swatch

I know I say this about a LOT of polishes, but this truly is one of my all-time favorites (I guess I must blog mostly about ones I like, and skip posting about the ones I don't). This is Icing Blackout. I hear there are two versions (one that's more dense with holo glitter), but this one is AMAZING. It's a deep charcoal jelly with tiny holo glitter that builds to black in three coats as shown (I'm sure you could do with one coat over a black base as well, but I love the jelly look):

Icing - Blackout

The next picture is blurred to show more of the beautiful colors.

For some reason I liked this picture even though it isn't very clear - again with the bright colors, and this isn't even in direct sunlight!

Here it is in the sun and you'll just have to take my word for it that it's much more sparkly in person! Just captivating!

I've gotten a couple other Icing polishes as well and have been quite impressed with them - awesome unique colors and fantastic formula.  I saw swatches of an gorgeous orange glitter by Icing here at Girly Bits, and it's created a HUGE lemming for me!  If anyone finds a bottle and would be willing to ship it to me, I'll buy it from you!!

Essie Wicked Swatch

Here's just a quick swatch of a nice vampy color that my mom picked up recently: Essie Wicked. It's the perfect brown-based red jelly that builds nicely in two coats.

Such a perfect fall color! I have a couple like this, but it's a classic and definitely worth having!

Kleancolor Metallic Green Swatch

I think it's a well known fact that the Kleancolor Metallic polishes are AWESOME (if you can get past the smell, of course). Well, here is yet another example of this AWESOME:

Kleancolor - Metallic Green

This has to be one of the brightest greens I own, and it is super shiny! I've tried Metallic Red as well but haven't gotten amazing pictures of that one yet. I'm pretty convinced that I need the rest of them now...

Also, my nails are really long here, and this is the length I'm hoping to get them to to try out my French tip water decals!

Glitter Gradient - Finger Paints It's an Original and Ozotic Elytra 528

Now, before you move on to the pictures I want to say that this wasn't nearly as spectacular as it looks here. The first three pictures are taken underwater, and the rainbow is much more prominent than it is in person.

This is Finger Paints It's an Original (shown alone here) with Ozotic Elytra 528 on the tips (about three coats starting father down the nail each time).

The following two pictures are not taken underwater, but are in very indirect, dim light, which is the only other time I could see the rainbow at all (besides in the water).

Unfortunately, this was so disappointing that I ended up taking it off pretty quickly. Mostly, it looked like simply teal glitter on the tips of the purple, and it just didn't "pop" like I wanted it to. Oh well, at least the pictures look pretty.

First Snow! (Orly Pixie Dust and Nubar White Polka Dot)

I can't believe it! It actually was SNOWING here in Pine, AZ on October 7th! Only briefly, and it didn't stick, but still... FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON! I had on Orly Pixie Dust because it was rainy and stormy, so I just added a coat each of Confetti Tiara and Nubar White Polka Dot over it. Check out my snow nails - I love them!!

Orly Pixie Dust w/ Confetti Tiara and Nubar White Polka Dot

I've seen a few swatches of Nubar White Polka Dot (which, by the way, is the same formula as the Painted Nail Moon drops) over dark colors, and it looks awesome. But I'm really in love with it over a stormy grey! It has the most beautiful pearly, silvery white glitter hexagons as well as smaller while pearl and iridescent glitters. Honestly, one of my favorite glitters that I own (and I have a LOT).

And for good measure, here is Orly Pixie Dust by itself:

For Nihrida: OPI Ink and Finger Paints It's an Original

Here's a comparison for my dear Nihrida <3

OPI Ink and Finger Paints It's an Original:

OPI Ink (index and ring) and Finger Paints It's an Original (middle and pinky)

The finish is obviously different, with Ink having a slightly duochrome glass fleck thing going on, and Original is just a straight blue-purple shimmer. To me in person, the flecks in Ink make it look a bit more blue, which doesn't show in the picture. Both only take two coats.

And to refresh your memory, here is how Finger Paints looks alone (except a bit too blue, but this picture shows the vibrancy quite well... maybe it's because it has a top coat).

Finger Paints It's an Original

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Midnight Sky Swatch

Another one "from the vault." This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Midnight Sky. It's darker than OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous and Chanel Graphite, and covers in two easy coats. I originally intended to layer something over this (like my Orly prismatic gold top coat, or China Glaze Fairy Dust) to make it more interesting, but as it turns out I loved it so much that I just left it alone.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Midnight Sky

Tuff Scent Wisdom and Inner Strength Swatches

Today's swatches are "from the vault" seeing as I REALLY don't want to take off my Magneffects polish (I have Velvet Groove on right now...  LOVE) and also because I'm waiting for the breaks in my nails to grow out.

I ordered these Tuff Scent polishes directly from their site a little while ago, and had an excellent experience.  I originally ordered Wisdom and Loyalty (as a present for my mom because her favorite scent is Lilac).  When they arrived, the Wisdom had been open a bit and dried out in transit.  I contacted them about it and their co-owner Sylvie got back to me right away and let me know that they'd send another out immediately and they she'd throw in another bottle of my choice for the trouble.  And that's how I ended up with Inner Strength as well.

Here they are!

Tuff Scent - Wisdom (grapefruit scent)

I love gold glitter, so Wisdom was a winner right off the bat. However, the formula is kind of "gloopy" (even the non-dried out one), but not unmanageable. Also, in the bottle it looks more pale and warm-toned, but the slightly yellow-tinted base gives it a more bright cool-toned look overall. The scent is very nice and not overwhelming, and really does have a nice grapefruit smell once it dries.

Tuff Scent - Inner Strength (almond scent)

Inner Strength reminds me of all the other taupes out there these days, but it's still a very nice chic color. It's a little sheer, so it took me three coats for this picture and it may still have a couple bald spots. Also, I'm not sure of the scent on this one. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for it to dry all the way (since this is only a swatch), but it was a little bit strong. I'll have to try it again for a full mani and see if the scent becomes lighter once it's fully dry.

I'll have to borrow Loyalty (lilac scent) from my mom sometime to do a swatch, but I CAN tell you that both I and my mom have tried it on and it's a beautiful two-coat dark blue and the scent is very nice.  I definitely recommend Loyalty.

I do recommend buying Tuff Scent polishes from their site - they are truly unique in the scents they offer, and they have EXCELLENT customer service!  I will definitely be ordering more in the future!

Finger Paints It's an Original Swatch

Just a quick post today. This is Finger Paints It's an Original, and it's one of most bold, beautiful blue-purples I own. If you've seen Sinful Colors Let's Talk in person, then just imagine a darker version but just as saturated. It's a tiny bit more purple in person than in the picture.

Finger Paints - It's an Original

I think this makes a perfect "Halloween purple" because it's dark and vampy and goes very well with orange. If I was awesome at nail art (I'm not, I tried) I'd totally do orange pumpkins with pretty green leaves with this as a background.

Layla Magneffect Swatches

I recently had the chance to purchase some of the Layla Magneffects line at AveYou.com during a SaveMore sale (I got $75 worth of stuff for $35, and with an order of $50 or more, you get $1 shipping... all in all I payed only $38.50 for these five, and they normally retail for $15.50 each!). I am SO glad I decided to try these out! They are AWESOME!

The pictures below show one thick coat on index and ring fingers, and two thick coats on middle and pinky.

Layla Magneffect - Velvet Groove

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite one. At two coats it truly looks like soft burgundy velvet... LOVE.

Layla Magneffect - Golden Nugget

This was a color that at first I thought "Ewwww, that doesn't look attractive." Somehow I changed my mind and it ended up in my order, and I'm glad it did!

For this one I lined up the magnet vertically with my nails, and it's hard to see in the picture but it really makes them look VERY 3D and awesome. Although I like the diagonal stripes, I think this is my favorite orientation - it even makes my short nails look long and pretty in person. It's hard to capture the 3D effect in a still photo, but trust me: try this at home!!

Layla Magneffect - Blue Grey Flow

Another neat color. The metal parts end up looking silver and the spaces in between become a navy blue.

Layla Magneffect - Purple Galaxy

The first coat of this looks like a nice rich purple, and with two coats it becomes a vampy dark plum with metallic accents. Very classy, in my opinion!

I'm not too big of a fan of the horizontal stripes, though...

Layla Magneffect - Metallic Sky

And my third favorite of the bunch. The brightest one of all, and just stunning in person.

Now I've been playing with frankening lately, and these made me very curious as to how they would look with holographic or duochrome pigment (doesn't it sound like it'd be awesome?!). However, I'm not ready to decant any of these new preciouses to try it, so I figured I'd try layering them over a holo (the holo-est holo I own - Nfu-Oh 62). Here are the results:

Layla Magneffects over Nfu-Oh 62

Disappointing, no? Oh well, at least I'm not gonna worry about combining them with holo pigment anymore. However, I still think that if they could somehow make a magentic pigment that is also duochromatic, this could produce one of the most epic polishes in the WORLD!