Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet Review With Dotticure Nail Art

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Happy Humpday!  Hopefully this week is going by quickly for you!  I've been trying to stay away from carbs lately because my DH is on a no carb diet, and so far I've been ok but not as strict as I want to be.  For example, right now I'd love to have a nice crusty sandwich but I know it'll be a huge cheat.  Diets are no fun!  Well, if somehow I happen to come across a sandwich today, I'll try to spend some extra time at the gym today.

Don't be mad at me but today's swatch is from a line of polishes that aren't available anymore, and that's Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet.  The Colorstay line recently was discontinued and replaced by the Colorstay Gel Envy line.  Honestly I don't know what the difference is, other than a higher price tag.  The colors are the same and they both dry to a high gloss shine. Red Carpet is the bold red of this collection and uses only two coats for full opacity.  Unlike typical red polishes, this did not have a strong jelly finish, but rather a crelly finish which I appreciate more(crelly means less VNL).  Below I finished with a topcoat, but in all reality it didn't need it - I needed to camouflage some minor dings.

Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet

Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet

Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet

Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet

 A while back I came across a unique dotticure on Instagram, and ever since I've been wanting to try it out.  I'm not sure if I did a good job of replicating it, but my hands are too shaky to get those perfectly sized and spaced dots. First I used a large dotting tool to make some black dots down the center of my nail, then connected them with a thin black line using a striping brush.  Next I dotted with a smaller tool using GOSH Holographic Hero over the black dots.  For these pics, I didn't finish with topcoat in fear that the black would smear, but luckily the nail art did not suffer from any streaks post photos.

Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet Dotticure

Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet Dotticure

Revlon Colorstay Red Carpet Dotticure

If you don't look too closely, you won't see all my imperfections.  From afar, it looks like a black chain necklace embedded with diamonds.  I like how the black and holographic silver accent the bold red color of Red Carpet.  It's been a long while since I've done a dotticure, and I have no excuse because they're so easy to do and very quick to finish.  I'm liking the shorter red nails for the summer, something I don't often do for some inexplicable reason.  Have you grabbed a not so summery color to wear lately?

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Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Showtime Swatch And Review

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Hello ladies! Sorry for the lapse in posting - I haven't been able to put LO to sleep without her waking up within minutes of me leaving the room.  I think she must be going through a phase, which I hope passes soon.  I haven't had any time to myself in over a week!  That means no shopping, swatching, posting, internet browsing, or watching tv.  Oy!

I was in dire need of a mani change, so I grabbed what I thought would be the quickest to apply with the most payoff.  I chose Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Showtime, a multifaceted royal purple flakie based polish.  The flakies range in a multitude of colors from violet, blue, to purple.  From my previous experience, the Colorstay Gel Envy line was easy to apply with saturated pigmentation.  Unfortunately, this did not live up to that previous experience, at least the first coat did not anyway.  It was streaky and patchy and I felt overall clumsy using the brush to apply the somewhat overly thin polish.  The second coat did wonders to even out the first messy layer, and left only a few patches behind.  I left it at two coats which dried fairly quickly albeit matte.  To finish, I used a layer of topcoat for shine.

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Showtime

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Showtime

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Showtime

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Showtime

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Showtime

Look at all those pretty flakies!!  I adore flakie based polishes like these, and wish that they were easier to find.  I'm willing to put up with the extra attention the application of this polish needs for a payoff like that.   From afar, the different colors glint in the light, and you can easily see sparks of of violet and blue.  Summer isn't really the time for dark vampy colors like this, but this is too irresistible to wait until fall.  I'm not deterred from the Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy line by the experience with this polish, and I hope to try out some more of their cremes in the future for further comparison.  Have you a chance to try this line out yet?  What are your thoughts?

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Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Wild Card Swatch And Review with Bonus Revlon Heavenly

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Another Monday, another dollar!  I'm looking forward to the end of this week, as I'll be starting my long awaited New Orleans vacation!  That being said, I totally forgot to line up some posts for the week that I'm gone, so pardon my absence.  I'll try to post if I have time, but most likely I won't.  I wish I had some back up posts for you, but it's so hard to get ahead, especially when LO doesn't want to fall asleep at night.

Today's post is going to feature the new Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy line that is appearing now in stores.  If you haven't heard, the older line is getting phased out and can be found on clearance at most stores, and these new Colorstay Gel Envys are replacing their displays.  With the words Gel Envy, I can only imagine that these are suppose to super high shine along with the well known Colorstay durability.  I picked up a couple(thanks to sales, coupons, and Extra bucks) and of course my eyes bee-lined straight to the deep royal blue cream called Wild Card.  This is similar to those deep luscious blues like Nails Inc Baker Street and Sinful Colors Endless Blue.  Unfortunately the deep blue freaked my camera out and I couldn't get it to show up on film as deep as it is IRL.  The formula was perfection, with low viscosity and super high pigmentation.  The brush is a pro-wide brush too with tapered corners which make maneuvering it a breeze.  I only needed one coat, just like the traditional Colorstays, but I used two out of habit.  And yes indeed-y, this dried to a super high shine without any need for topcoat.  Win!

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Wild Card

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Wild Card

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Wild Card

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Wild Card

And just because I can't leave any good ole cream alone, I had to top this with a glitter topper.  I used Revlon Heavenly from the core line, and this pretty little thing has tons of hex and square glitters in iridescent pink and blue.  It's a versatile topper that I can see myself using at every opportunity.  I only needed one easy coat and then topped this all with a layer of my GCS/Poshe topcoat.

Revlon Heavenly Over Wild Card

Revlon Heavenly Over Wild Card

Revlon Heavenly Over Wild Card

Revlon Heavenly Over Wild Card

Revlon Heavenly Over Wild Card

Revlon Heavenly Over Wild Card

I am highly impressed by the Colorstay Gel Envy line, as the colors are super pigmented and only need one coat for a super high shine, making it a perfect color to grab if you're running out the door like I am often am.  The brush adds points for me too, as it's not a wimpy drug store brush but rather wide, just like the salon or designer polishes.  And if you can get these on sale, it's a total win.  I dare say that I would put these on par or above with salon polishes like Zoya or Essie.  If you haven't tried these yet, you really should - you don't won't to miss out on these!

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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?

Polish Addict A Beautiful Mess Over Revlon Colorstay Blue Slate Swatch And Review

Have you ever participated in a round Robin exchange? I joined an indie polish only one on TPF and recently finished my selections from the box and shipped it to the next recipient.  It was a lot of fun going through the box and looking at all the pretties and trying new brands.  You can see my selections here.

I needed a break from green nails this week and I have a lovely grayed out blue cream that I found in my purge box. It's a Revlon Colorstay called Blue Slate, and  I have no idea why I wanted to purge this wonderful color.  It applied smoothly like silk with no steaks and dries to a high shine.  Overall is a fantastic polish and going back into my collection. Two coats here with no topcoat.

 Revlon Colorstay Blue Slate

 Revlon Colorstay Blue Slate

 Revlon Colorstay Blue Slate

 Revlon Colorstay Blue Slate

 Revlon Colorstay Blue Slate

 Revlon Colorstay Blue Slate

I thought Blue Slate would be great undies for Polish Addict A Beautiful Mess, a dark cornflower blue crelly with purple, teal, gold, and sparkly holographic glitters.  I love the combination of colors and really works well for spring.  I used two coats over Blue Slate and used a layer of topcoat to smooth the glitters.  In hindsight, an additional layer of Gelous may have smoothed it further.

Polish Addict A Beautiful Mess

Polish Addict A Beautiful Mess

Polish Addict A Beautiful Mess

Polish Addict A Beautiful Mess

Polish Addict A Beautiful Mess

Polish Addict A Beautiful Mess

This particular polish has me thinking of colorful Easter eggs.  I've been wanting to try Polish Addict since discovering it in Instagram, and I have to say that so far I'm impressed with the lovely glitter creations that range from delicate to straight out bling. I lucked out further when I caught a sale and ordered a few minis to try.  I look forward to showing you more of these gems soon!

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown Swatch And Review

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Ok, I impulse bought a new point and shoot camera.  My rational self knows that I don't need a new camera, but the sales goggles were on and I couldn't stop myself.  I need to convince myself that rather than buying a new camera, I should work on my photography skills and improve my lighting set up.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I would love to know what lighting you use for your photos!

The other day after I received an email from CVS for $3 off a Revlon purchase, I headed over to my local store with the intent of getting some of the Revlon Parfumerie polishes.  Instead, I spied a new display for Revlon Leather Effect polishes and was immediately drawn to the dark eggplant purple shade called Downtown.  There was a black, blue, and I believe a grey shade as well, but purple being my favorite was the obvious choice.  The formula on these are spectacular, especially consider that it's a texture polish.  I was expecting some resistance with the formula, particularly around the cuticle area, but the formula was so silky smooth and applied exceptionally well.  It was a near one coater but I did two out of habit.  No topcoat so you can see the natural textured finish.

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown

It indeed has a leather effect, which is a texture that is between a sand and a matte.  I don't know the chemistry behind it, but it seems that the polish glides on smooth like a cream but then begins to dry and form little bumps, almost like a coagulating effect.  The blank canvas begged to be decorated, so I broke out my Winstonia W113 plate and used the beehive image and Color Club Angel Kiss to stamp.

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown Stamping

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown Stamping

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown Stamping

Revlon Leather Effect Downtown Stamping

I like this image because the stamp isn't too busy and allows the base color to shine through.  I gravitate toward geometric patterns in general, so this particular pattern is a favorite for me.  Out of the plates I own, the Winstonia ones are my favorite because the image always seems to transfer over cleanly and easily.  I wish I could do it more often but with the LO around, it's hard to find that extra time to do nail art.  I like quick and easy accents and I'm always on the lookout for new techniques.  What's your go to nail art?

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