I Love Nail Polish Reminisce Swatch And Review

Purchased

Good morning!  Today's going to be a long day full of meetings and paperwork, but fortunately one of my sales reps is taking me and some of the work crew out for a business expensed "work" dinner at a new highly rated restaurant.  There may or may not be a coincidence that it's a few days after my birthday.  I may not like aging another year, but I sure do like to celebrate my special day as many ways as I can!

I learned a new technique today from Fashion Polish, and that's how to minimize brushstrokes with frosts, metallics, chromes, and foils.  I'm glad to find an easy solution to those unwanted brushstrokes, and that's by using a layer of matte topcoat before the final topcoat.  How easy is that?  My first test subject is I Love Nail Polish Reminisce, a duochrome green shimmer that has that glow within property, shifting from dark forest green to an emerald green.  True to ILNP formula, I used three fluid coats for opacity and it dried with the expected brushstrokes, despite how carefully I applied it.  I used a layer of Wet 'n' Wild matte topcoat and finished with my standard GCS/Poshe mix.  I have to say, there was a visible improvement but if you look hard enough, you can still see some of the marks.

I Love Nail Polish Reminisce

I Love Nail Polish Reminisce

I Love Nail Polish Reminisce

I Love Nail Polish Reminisce

I Love Nail Polish Reminisce

I Love Nail Polish Reminisce

The duochrome effect with Reminisce isn't terribly strong, so some may be disappointed if you were looking for a bold color morph.  In some lights you may catch a hint of teal, but it's elusive and brief.  The gradients of green fortunately create a glowing effect which is enchanting.  And matte topcoat=Winning!  I have another reason to love matte topcoats, and another excuse to stock up.    Whodathunk matte topcoat would clean up frosts so beautifully?  Have you tried this trick yet?  Or do you have another matte topcoat trick that you'd like to pass along?

Purchased

Revlon Electric Chrome Super-Powered Swatch And Review

It's been another tough week for me and you can bet that I'm glad it's Friday!  Are you planning anything fun for the weekend?  LO has a fever so I'll probably be caring for her until she's back to her precocious self.

There's a new Spiderman movie coming out soon and in anticipation, Revlon has released a new collection called the Electric Chromes which feature vibrant jewel tone chromes with a duochrome finish.  One of the stand outs in this collection is Super-Powered, a stunning cobalt blue chrome embedded with metallic purple shimmer that creates a gorgeous purple flash.  The formula is impeccable Revlon, and flows evenly and smoothly along the nail without any puddling or balding.  I used two coats here with no topcoat.

Revlon Super-Powered

Revlon Super-Powered

Revlon Super-Powered

Revlon Super-Powered

Revlon Super-Powered

Revlon Super-Powered

Super-Powered is one of those polishes that has infinite movement and glow with its incredible foil shimmering effect.  The flash of purple is near impossible to capture on camera, but it's easily visible in most light, especially in low light.  This is amazingly reminiscent of Spiderman's iconic hi-tech blue bodysuit.  I was compelled to attempt some free hand nail art and used silver polish to add some spider webs.  Seems like I still have a ways to go to perfect that technique!

Revlon Super-Powered

Gosh, I really miss going to the movies!  I have been to one in ages, and probably won't for another couple years.  It's hard to leave LO at home to go and enjoy a movie, despite family always offering to watch her.   One of these days I'll get over it, I'm sure.  Have you seen any good movies lately?

I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier Swatch And Review

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I'm so stoked.  I finally splurged and bought my HG facial moisturizer, Kiehl's Rose Artica, after going on a vacation from it for a few months.  I was being stubborn and wanted to find a similar moisturizer for cheaper using the Sephora VIB discount.  I tried both Dior Hydra Life and Korre's and neither were heavy enough for my super dry skin in the winter.  I've always appreciate a good Dior product and Hydra Life has a nice light texture but was more suitable for normal skin.  Korre's, which was super popular on the Sephora website and had tons of great reviews, was similar but had a stronger smell and a lower price point.  After my skin going through a number of break outs this past month I decided to suck it up and spend the extra money to buy a product that I know works for me.  Do you have this problem?  Are you stuck on an expensive product with no cheaper option available?  What's your HG moisturizer?

Today's eye candy is I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier, metallic light blue duochrome that shifts from a metallic cobalt blue to silver.  Formula is on the thin side but easy to manage with the wide brush and applies with minimal pooling and thankfully no major brushstrokes.  I used three coats here with no topcoat.

I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier 

I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier 

I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier 

I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier 

This is one of those colors that you HAVE to stamp over, so I pulled out my neglected Bundle Monster plates and used the peacock print.  I wanted a dark blue cream but ended up using China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway which I don't think was dark enough.  It a subtle print, but is pretty to look up when seen up close.  I finished this with a layer of topcoat.

I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier Stamping

I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier Stamping

I Love Nail Polish My Little Glacier Stamping

My nails are still too long to take to a regular stamping image.  I wish there was a better selection of larger stamping plates out there that didn't cost an arm and a leg.  I seem to be in a nail art rut as well and haven't done any other techniques lately.  When this happens, what do you use for inspiration?

Purchased

I Love Nail Polish Undenied Swatch And Review

Purchased

Have you discovered Yellow Stopper from Sally Beauty Supply?  I'm not sure who makes the product, but it looks to be the same type of bottle as Gelous except with a yellow top.  I just started using recently, and it works fabulously as a peel a way basecoat, especially for glitter polishes.  I was using a homemade PVC glue basecoat but one of my nails would always pop off day later at the most inopportune time.  Yellow Stopper doesn't pop off like that, and peels off easily like the PVC basecoat.  There's no worry about getting it wet either, whereas the PVC seemed to pop off more easily when I washed my hands more often than usual.  I'm still experimenting with it, but so far I really like it. 

It's been awhile since I've used a good duochrome, and I knew this would be the perfect opportunity when I received my recent I Love Nail Polish spring collection order.  The first one I pulled out was the purple duochrome called Undenied.  This is a mostly a dark plum that shifts eggplant to red and orange.  Like previous ILNP duochromes, this has a metallic formula that applies with streaks if your not careful.  I used three coats here for good measure and the application was smooth and easy with no pooling or streaking.  No topcoat here so you can see it's natural shine.

I Love Nail Polish Undenied

I Love Nail Polish Undenied

I Love Nail Polish Undenied

I Love Nail Polish Undenied

I Love Nail Polish Undenied

I Love Nail Polish Undenied

I Love Nail Polish Undenied

I Love Nail Polish Undenied

I do enjoy this polish for it's vibrant plum color, but the duochrome finish appears flat and other colors seem shy unless exposed to extreme light angles.  Undenied isn't made to be as color shifting like ILNP's gorgeous multichromes, but I guess I'm spoiled now that I've tried them.  Will I ever be able to go back to a regular old duochrome?  It's incredible how far polish has come the past few years, back when holos and duochromes were unheard of and scarce, to now where there's an abundance to the point of over saturation.  Have you noticed this phenomenon, and how do you feel about it?

Purchased

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation Swatch And Review

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!  This post was suppose to go up yesterday but for some reason my Firefox was not cooperating with the Blogger website.  In any case, my weekend has been out of sorts to say the least -  my family came down with the 24 hour stomach bug(those pesky daycare germs).  DH got it first, then it hit me Friday night, and Saturday I think LO came down with mild case.  We've been laid up all weekend, sleeping and eating bagels and soup.  Hopefully we'll be right as rain by the time my brother arrives mid week.

While making the bagel run, I realized that there was a Sally's enroute so I dropped in quickly to take advantage of the FingerPaints 2 for 1 sale going on all month long.  I picked up two and I have one of them for you today.  Sally's is also running their 50% off red tag sale this weekend, but all the good polishes were picked over at my store.  I was more interested in the FingerPaints anyway, and luckily they had some good colors for me to choose from.  I have a silver polish called Chromatic Creation, and the formula on this was smooth and easy to control.  I used no basecoat in these pics, and you can see the underlying imperfections of my nails.  It was opaque in two coats, but I did three for extra coverage on my longer nails.  No topcoat in these pics.

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

But wait, is that a prismatic rainbow I see in the last pic?  Could this be a holo in the new FingerPaints core line?  Why yes it is! Let's check it out under direct light, shall we?

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

FingerPaints Chromatic Creation

ZZZzzzzzz..... Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to snooze there.  What were we doing again?  Oh yes, looking for the holo in Chromatic Creation.  If you look hard enough, it's there, albeit very weak and subtle.  In the day and age where indies rule the scene with amazingly strong holos in all colors and finishes, this doesn't even begin to compare.  I do appreciate that a salon brand made an attempt at a holo, and made it part of the core line at that.  I suppose this would be a wonderful surprise for a muggle who decides to pick up a seemingly plain ol' bottle of silver polish, but for us polish enthusiasts, it's a disappointment to say the least.  The price is the only plus, costing only a little over $5, and half that if you manage to pick up during this month's BOGO sale.  I'm hoping that I can still salvage this polish for stamping.  Would you consider adding this to your collection?

Essie Encrusted Treasures On A Silver Platter Swatch And Review

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How is your first weekend of the year going ladies?  I'm still trying to find ways to entertain my parents, and today is their last day in town.  Maybe we'll go to the beach, maybe we'll go to the Getty, or maybe we'll just go to the park and play with LO.  What are you planning on doing today?

I'm still trying to bring on the bling for you and today I have an Essie from their limited edition collection of textures called Encrusted Treasures.  It's aptly called on a Silver Platter because of its strong metallic pale gold microflakes in a clear base.  To accent there are some holographic blue hex glitters added into the mix.  In some lights this polish appears platinum, shifts to a pearlescent silver, and then to a shimmering gold. Regardless, it's one helluva sparkly polish. You can probably layer this over other colors but I chose to wear it alone to maximize its effect.  I used four thin coats here, with no difficulty during application such as balding or clumping.  IRL I could have probably used two to three coats without VNL.  It dried surprisingly quickly on its own but I added a layer of topcoat to increase duration of wear.

Essie Encrusted Treasures On A Silver Platter

Essie Encrusted Treasures On A Silver Platter

Essie Encrusted Treasures On A Silver Platter

Essie Encrusted Treasures On A Silver Platter

Essie Encrusted Treasures On A Silver Platter

Essie Encrusted Treasures On A Silver Platter

I haven't seen too much of the Encrusted Treasure collection which is unfortunate.  I think this is a glamorous and unique color along with the rest of the colors in the collection.  Have any of them caught your eye or do they not appeal to you? 

Purchased

Marc Jacobs Petra Swatch And Review

Purchased

I'm an addict in more ways than one - a while back I started lusting after handbags, and the gateway that started that addiction was a Marc Jacobs black Multipocket.  It was supple black calf leather with shiny silver pushlocks on the exterior pockets and lined with sumptuous cream suede.  The quality was superior to anything I'd ever owned, and it led me down a long spiraling addiction into high end handbags.  Back then, I was a D.I.N.K.(dual income no kids) and could afford luxuries like that, but I've since learned my lesson and have been trying to be more frugal with designer purchases.  Being the former Marc Jacobs addict that I am, when I found Marc Jacobs finally released a beauty collection, I had to take the bait!

Petra is the gem of the collection - it's a rose gold foil with hints of black, silver, and gold.  It's complex and gorgeous.  The Marc Jacobs bottle is uniquely Marc Jacobs-esque, short and wide with rounded corners.  The black lid pops off to reveal a small round wand that's easy to grasp.  The brush is a normal flat brush, not too thin but not wide either.  The formula was incredible and flowed off the brush easily.  It nearly applied itself on its own and took no effort or clean-up on my part, and best of all, this is only one coat!  It dried to a satin finish on its own which I think helped bring out more of the colors in the foil.

Marc Jacobs Petra

Marc Jacobs Petra

Marc Jacobs Petra

Marc Jacobs Petra

Marc Jacobs Petra

Marc Jacobs Petra

I'm so impressed with this polish.  So. Impressed.  It's in par with the quality of Marc Jacob's handbags, and I shouldn't be surprised by that.  The price tag is on the higher end, at $19 a bottle, but considering the cute unique bottle, the packaging, and excellent formula, I would say that it's superior to the other polishes that are in this price range.  Of course, I've only had experience with this one particular shade, but don't doubt that I'm planning on trying more from this line.  I'm hoping that I don't become as addicted to the polishes as I did with his handbags.  Have you had a chance to try any of his polishes yet, and what did you think of the quality?

Purchased