OPI Peace & Love & OPI Swatches + Review

 Peace & Love & OPI, two coats, sunlight

 Peace & Love & OPI two coats, indoor light

 a better shot of the duochrome! 

OPI's Peace & Love & OPI is described as holographic sage and eggplant by OPI. It is available in the mini set for the San Francisco collection. 

I would say it's more of a steel grey with an aubergine to dark sea foam green shift. In bright sunlight, it usually appears to be a steely grey foil. Sometimes the purple is more obvious in sunlight, but usually the green doesn't come to the party in bright lights. 

Indoor lighting is best to see the pretty color shift in this one! It looks the same on the nail as it does in the bottle, with or without top coat, which is awesome. 

The polish applies smooth and opaque in one coat, but I used two coats for these photos. I found no flaws in this one. It's pretty much my dream polish! It dries in a decent amount of time, and it does not chip easily. I work in retail, so I am always working with my hands, and I did get one small chip in a nail from work, but for the most part they still look freshly polished (after three days). 

I would absolutely recommend this polish! 

*pardon the hideous band-aid on my finger. The cut underneath is far more hideous! 

Liquid Lacquer "Dazed and Confused" Swatches + Review

 Two coats, cloudy

 Two coats, some sunlight 

I was trying to wait to review this polish until I could get really awesome photos in bright sunlight, but it's been raining off and on for days. I haven't been able to catch the sun! 

Dazed and Confused is a light, grey base with tons of holographic shimmer. The holographic effect does not show up as well when you add a top coat, which was included in these photos. It also ONLY shows up in bright, direct sunlight, which is a bit disappointing because when you can see the holo, it's a gorgeous polish. The application is super smooth, easy, and fast. I was so excited to use this one that I just slapped it on (hence my nails look a bit crappy), but still -- this one applies like a dream. It is mostly opaque in two coats; I didn't see the need for three. 

Overall, I like this polish because it looks pretty even when you cannot see the holo, and it is gorgeous when the holo is visible. I'd recommend this to others who can handle the differences with the lighting. 

Essie "A Crewed Interest" Swatch + Review

I have had this polish for quite a while,  a year or so, but I have never actually finished a manicure with it because the formula is so awful. I do, however,  love the color. It is a soft pinky peach, and it will be flattering on most skin tones. 

The formula is thin, watery, and streaky. It is extremely difficult to get an even coat with this polish, and even with this manicure I have spots on some nails that are thicker than others. which is not as noticeable in photos as it is in real life, but it's pretty annoying. I love this color, but I absolutely hate the formula on this one. I have never experienced something so awful from Essie. 

2/5 because it is a nice color. I would not recommend buying this polish ever. The color is nice, but it is not worth the trouble you will experience trying to apply it. 

I hope this is helpful! 

Birchbox + Color Club Wanderlust Collection: "London Calling" Pics + Review

I should start this by saying that I abhor the formula on these polishes, and this one seems to be the worst, which is sad because it's a nice color. "London Calling" is a super light, green grape green, which reminds me a lot of OPI's "Gargantuan Green Grape", another color I adore. This one, however, is thick and streaky and extremely difficult to apply. See how my manicure looks messy? That's because I really could not work with this polish.

Something I have noticed about these polishes which is different from other Color Club polishes I have used is the wear time. The entire Wanderlust collection will last at least a week on the nails without chipping, even on the toes.

The only significant difference between "London Calling" and "Gargantuan Green Grape" is the opacity of "London Calling". It may be thick and streaky, but "London Calling" covers in two coats, and with a top coat it looks more smooth. GGG requires at least three coats. Another, less noticeable difference is that London Calling has that neon edge to it, but it is not so neon that it really looks that different compared to GGG.

All of that said, the streaky formula makes the score for this one low, and it is not an especially unique color. I give it 2/5. It does have excellent wear time, and it is a nice color.

From the Color Club Wanderlust Collection: Reign in Spain + Pardon My French Reviews + Swatches

 Reign in Spain is a lovely, neon coral, but that's where its draw ends. The formula is thick and streaky, and the only way I could get my nails to look nice with these polishes is apply a really thick top coat. I, of course, chose Seche Vite. So 3/5 for this one only because the color is amazing. 

 Pardon My French is difficult to photograph. This photo shows it being more pink, but it's actually a bright, purple with more blue in it. It also applies streaky, and I needed Seche Vite to make this one work as well. 3/5, again because the color is very pretty. 

The entire mini collection! I'll be reviewing the other two polishes shortly. I bought mine from Birchbox, and I'm pretty sure it's the only place to purchase it unless you want to pay exorbitant prices on ebay. It's a mini-set, and it's 8.00 USD on Birchbox, plus shipping if you're not a member. 

SinfulShine with Gel Tech Polishes at Walgreens (+ photo of All the Rage)

I found the new Sinful Shine with Gel Tech collection at Walgreens, and I picked up one polish, All the Rage.

The polishes are 2.99 USD at Walgreens. I got All the Rage, which is a warm-toned medium pink with microshimmer (that is not noticeable unless in sunlight). The photo was taken indoors with natural light. These polishes are supposed to be super shiny, like a gel manicure, and this one definitely is. I am not a huge fan of the formula, though. It's very thick and somewhat streaky on the second coat. I had to work with this one a bit more than with other polishes I own in order to get a decent manicure. I do, however, very much like the result, and I will most likely purchase more of these polishes.

*UPDATE* I have had this polish on my nails for over a week, and I have noticed absolutely NO chipping, just minor tip damage, which I always expect with nail polish. It holds up extremely well.

Essie "Better Together" Swatch + Review

That's two coats photographed indoors using flash with Seche Vite top coat. 

I find this polish pretty nice. It applies smoothly and evenly, but as you can see in the photos it is very sheer. I believe it is intended to be sheer, though. I think three coats could provide the maximum opacity available from this polish, but I liked it at two. 5/5 Essie usually does a good job. 

Essie "Turquoise and Caicos" swatch + review

In photos this polish appears to make my hands and fingers look extremely red, but in real life they look normal. I paid about 8 USD for this polish at Wal Mart (which is the only place I've been able to find it of late). I absolutely love Essie's polish formula --- their polishes never chip on me, but I hate the brush. I wish they would upgrade to the wide brush type. This polish is fairly thin and sheer, so I had to use three coats for full opacity. The sheerness is the only complaint I have about this polish. It applies evenly, albeit sheer, and with Seche Vite fast drying top coat, it dries very quickly. I love the color, the formula, and the ease of application. I give it 5 out of 5.

Revlon ColorStay Nail Polish - 030 "Calla Lily"

This is a very sheer, creamy, white polish with beautiful, multi-dimensional gold micro-shimmer. Because it is so sheer, I applied two coats of it over one coat of Essie's "Sand Tropez", my favorite nude. The base coat I have been using and loving of late is Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat. I used two coats of Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat for this manicure to allow the micro-shimmer to really pop.

This manicure was applied Friday, and it has lasted through three showers without chipping or peeling. It lost none of its luster. Application is very nice on this polish: it glides smoothly over the nail, and it dries fairly quickly on its own which makes applying multiple coats faster and easier. The brush is the flat, slightly wider type that I find most similar to the Wet'n'Wild Fast Drying nail polish brushes. It is not as wide as the OPI pro-wide brush. Over "Sand Tropez" this polish takes on more of its creamy properties due to the undertones in "Sand Tropez", but if used alone it comes out as a pretty, jelly-like white, and the shimmers still look gorgeous.

I paid roughly 8 USD for this at CVS.

I give this polish a 5 out of 5 for it's color, application, luster, dry time, and strength (resistance to chipping). This one makes me want to try more of the Revlon ColorStay polishes!

Milani Glossé Top Coat + Wet'n'Wild The Gold and The Beautiful Review/Swatch

This is three coats of The Gold and The Beautiful, and it's still not completely opaque, but the fact that it's a glitter makes up for the somewhat bare spaces.
The Milani top coat smooths over polish while it's still wet (like Seche Vite), and it dries within five minutes, a complete dry. Unlike the Seche Vite, Milani Glossé lacks the big three, which is always a good thing. Because this product acts the same as Seche Vite at a cheaper price and without the potentially harmful chemicals, I must say I prefer it. It also keeps my polish one quite a bit longer than the Seche Vite, about a week and a half. That said, though, the Wet'n'Wild FastDry polishes tend to stay on my nails exceptionally well anyway. I definitely recommend all of you Seche Vite fans to try the Milani Glossé Top Coat.

As for The Gold and the Beautiful I find that it goes on fairly well for a glitter polish. It's mostly opaque with three coats, and it's a gold glitter suspended in a clear jelly base, which makes the opacity fairly impressive. As with most glitters it is annoying and messy to remove, but we all understand that comes with the territory. As previously stated, it lasts on my nails up to nine or ten days with the Milani top coat and at least a week with Seche Vite.

Color Club "Tangerine Scream"

Three coats, Seche Vite top coat, photo taken indoors with flash.

I find this color difficult to photograph. It has a green sheen to it, but I could not get a good photo of that. Also, the green shows a lot better in the bottle than it does on the nail. This is a neon polish, so it dries matte. It looks fine matte as well, but the green comes out a lot more with a shiny top coat. I found this polish a bit difficult to work with, rather streaky and a little dry? It did not cover the tips of my nails as opaquely as I would have liked if that makes sense. I found I had to dip the brush into the bottle more than once to do one coat on most of my nails. Flaws aside, I absolutely love this color, and since I've never seen another one like it, I'm willing to handle the downsides.

OPI "Mermaid's Tears"

This is from the new OPI Pirates of The Caribbean collection. I only bought this one color, but I must say I am pretty interested in the other polishes from this collection! They all have this murky quality to them which adds uniqueness to what would otherwise be rather boring colors. "Mermaid's Tears" is like the dark, murky version of Essie "Turquoise and Caicos", which is a lovely color. This is a bright turquoise with a hint of sea-foam, but it has this grey, murky, dulled quality to it, which is a unique quality in all the polishes from this collection. I suppose the easiest color description is MURKY TURQUOISE. like brackish seas? mayhap.
The formula on this is fabulous. Opaque in three coats. Decent dry time (thought I use Seche Vite, which speeds up my dry time quite a bit). Lovely polish to work with, no frustrations, difficulties. No complaints at all about this. It's really that fabulous. If you like this type of color, GO BUY THIS ONE. NOW. <3

Sinful Colors "Show Me The Way"

I really like this color, but I dislike the formula. It's super super thin and watery. I did two coats for this photo, but it needed three coats to be opaque, and I didn't have the patience to do that! A lovely color, though. 1.99 USD at Walgreens, so why am I complaining? At least it didn't make me want to throw the bottle out the window like one I will soon share!!

China Glaze "Solar Power"

This is a photo of China Glaze's "Solar Power" applied at three coats taken indoors with flash. This polish is from their Ecollection from last spring. I find this particular color extremely difficult to apply cleanly. It always looks really messy on my nails, no matter how careful I am to paint them neatly. Also, this polish didn't even last a full 24 hours on my nails. I noticed a lot of tip-wear and some chipping on a few of my nails the next afternoon. While I absolutely love this color, I hate hate hate the formula. It's difficult to work with, and it never lasts well on my nails, no matter which basecoat or topcoat I use. I can only wear this polish for a day before it starts chipping away! :o(