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

Purchased

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!

Purchased

Liquid Glam Lucky Charm Swatch And Review

Purchased

Hello darlings!  Did you enjoy your weekend?  Ours was a quiet weekend, which is always a nice weekend at our house.  LO has some sniffles, so we didn't got to the pool like planned.  Instead, we tried to use our new gym membership which included daycare services.  Our workout didn't last long, however, because after 10 minutes we got a call saying that she hadn't stopped crying since we left her in their care.  It's going to take time for her to get adjusted to the new surroundings, which means each subsequent workout is going to be 5 minutes longer.  Hopefully by the end of the month I'll get a full hour workout!

Today's polish is a white crelly based glitter that allowed me to knock to untrieds in one shot.  I started with a layer of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On, a white cream proported to be one of the best drugstore whites out there.  I'm always looking for a good white, and I was not let down by this one at all.  I used only one full coverage coat and I had no issues with streaking.  Perfect!  For the star of the show, I used two coats of Liguid Glam Lucky Charm, aptly named for its colorful squares of turquoise, hot pink, and yellow glitters that mimic a certain cereal.  In retrospect, I could have used one coat of Lucky Charm and gotten a similar effect but without as much crowding of glitters.  Application itself was a cakewalk, with no issues with dragging or stacking of the adorable squares.  I finished this with a layer of topcoat for shine.

Liquid Glam Lucky Charm

Liquid Glam Lucky Charm

Liquid Glam Lucky Charm

Liquid Glam Lucky Charm

Liquid Glam Lucky Charm

Liquid Glam Lucky Charm

I really love the fanciful mix of glitters, especially considering that they're square glitters.  I have used a white base in a long time either, and the bright colors really pop against the blank canvas.  Although I think one coat would have been enough, I can't help not regretting the two coats because it's so much fun to apply the square glitters.  Liquid Glam certainly has created a polish that is addictive to use and addictive to stare upon, which makes it worth every penny IMO.  This polish is still available in the storefront, and features a 5 free formula and free shipping every day.  Score!

Purchased

Jindie Nails Tastes Like Snozberries Swatch And Review

Nothing To Disclose

Hello my dears!  Whew I've had a crazy week which didn't leave much time for posting.  Work has been kicking my butt again, and next week doesn't promise to be any easier.  In the meantime, I need to get it out of my mind and enjoy the weekend!  Do you have any fun plans for the three day weekend?  A bbq perhaps?

I was going through my drawers recently and pulled out my untrieds to swatch.  A lot of times they end up prematurely in my drawers because of visiting guests, and then I lose track of where I put them.  One of those lost but now found untrieds is Jindie Nails Taste Like Snozberries, a tpf swapbox polish I received.  Jindie Nails is always a good go to indie brand when I need a glitter polish fix, and this one certainly fits that bill.  It's a pepto bismol pink crelly loaded with varying sized pink circles and hexes, as well as other variants of white, purple, blue, and teal glitters.  The first coat was really sheer, but three coats built up easily with very little stacking.  I used a layer of topcoat, but in retrospect I could have used Gelous to smooth out those larger glitters.

Jindie Nails Tastes Like Snozberries

Jindie Nails Tastes Like Snozberries

Jindie Nails Tastes Like Snozberries

Jindie Nails Tastes Like Snozberries

Jindie Nails Tastes Like Snozberries

Jindie Nails Tastes Like Snozberries

 I love how much depth this polish has, especially with three layers worth of generous glitters.  This is a fun, girly polish that reminds me of one of LOs toys that invariably squeak or sound out whenever I'm remotely nearby.  Out of curiosity, I looked up the image of snozberries from Willie Wonka's movie, and yup, I can totally see the inspiration of this polish from the colors in the lickable wallpaper.  I'm not sure I'd ever enjoy such a concept, but I certainly enjoy snozberries on my fingertips!  Luckily Taste Like Snozberries is still available in the Jindie storefront if you're interested.

Nothing To Disclose

Hare Free-Spirit Of The Season Swatch And Review

Hello again, and TGIF!  I'm a little bummed today, the tech that we hired to help me recently put in his two week resignation.  Seems like another job that he had applied previous to ours offered him a better package than we could, and possibly he might like the hospital  setting better. I really like him too, and he was learning everything so fast. Bummer.

To perk things up, I'm continuing with another green mani. This is Hare Polish Free-Spirit Of The Season, a dark emerald green jelly shot through with dazzling gold shimmer and accented with matte purple and fuchsia glitters.  There's also multisized red glitter making it a Christmas themed polish but I thought it would still be appropriate for this week as well.  I used three layers here and although it seemed opaque IRL the camera makes it look more sheer than it is.  Formula was smooth and even for a jelly and not overloaded with glitters. In fact I wish there was a tiny bit more but maybe the fourth coat would solve that.  This is finished with two layers of topcoat to smooth down the glitters.

Hare Polish Free-Spirit Of The Season

Hare Polish Free-Spirit Of The Season

Hare Polish Free-Spirit Of The Season

Hare Polish Free-Spirit Of The Season

Hare Polish Free-Spirit Of The Season

Hare Polish Free-Spirit Of The Season

The matte glitters completely transform this into a polish that can be worn any season, especially St Paddy's day. The complexity of all its components make it a great visual distraction throughout the day. I usually deter myself from overly holiday themed polishes but thankfully this wasn't one of them.  Do you have any that you can wear at any time?

Hare Polish A Very Kitschy Christmas: Gee, Thanks Grandma Swatch And Review

Purchased

Hello my pretty tough ladies!  How is your week going?  Hopefully you've been keeping warm wherever you are.  At work when I have to call an insurance company, I can tell the rest of the country is suffering from this cold blast because the on hold waits are longer or even closed due to inclimate weather.  My parent's flight was affected as well, and after many unsuccessful calls to United, had to postpone their cancelled flight to Thursday.  It's crazy what can happen when extreme weather hits!

If you know me well enough, you know that I'm a fan of all things Hare Polish.  When she announced a collaboration with Superchic Lacquers called A Very Kitschy Christmas, you best bet that I was first in line to get my order in!  There's something special about her polish recipes - maybe it's the glitter density or the color coordination, but whatever it is, it's simply magical.  Gee, Thanks Grandma is a gorgeous combination of red, pink, and gold glitters in a milk chocolate brown crelly base with gold microglitter.  There's an improvement in the formula this time around, previously the bases weren't pigmented enough which resulted in sheer application and heavy glitter, now the polish becomes easily opaque in two coats with the perfect amount of glitter.  The glitter did not clump or drag during application either, but you do have to be careful with runaway glitters coming off the free edge of the nail.  I finished this with a layer of Gelous and topcoat.

Hare Polish Gee, Thanks Grandma

Hare Polish Gee, Thanks Grandma

Hare Polish Gee, Thanks Grandma

Hare Polish Gee, Thanks Grandma

Hare Polish Gee, Thanks Grandma

Hare Polish Gee, Thanks Grandma

I have to whole heartedly disagree with the name of this polish - Gee, Thanks Grandma gives the impression that whatever the gift grandma gave for Christmas was received without much enthusiasm, however IMO, if the gift was made of these colors, I'd have to say it must be pretty awesome!  I love how all the colors come together deliciously and I get visions of chocolate covered cherries, or a cherry pie with a golden crust and chocolate ice cream.  Maybe that's because I always have food on the brain.  In any case, this has become one of my favorite holiday polishes for that very reason and I want to get as much use out of it as I can for the season.  What comes to your mind when you see this polish?

Purchased

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn Swatch And Review

Purchased

Hooray for the weekend! If you're in the northeast, you're probably having a three day weekend. I hope you all are safe and warm! My parents are worried about their flight back to PA on Monday and we're hoping the flight will go smoothly with no delays.   It's hard to tell at this point! Travel this weekend is going to be a b*tch.

I love grey polish and I love it more when it's a grey polish with glittah!  When I saw Elevation released 2AM Walks With Farrihn I knew it had to be mine. This is a dark purple leaning grey colored crelly base loaded with hex glitters in purple, fuchsia squares, and green circles.  I used three coats here found that the slightly thick polish was a somewhathard to control, in that it didn't want to flow easily and coat the edges of my nail bed, especially toward the cuticles.  The glitters however posed no hindrance whatsoever during application.  I finished this with a layer of Gelous followed with topcoat.

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Lulu's inspiration for this was a flower that she saw while taking a late night walk in NYC with her friend.  I think this polish summarizes that moment precisely, and I can see in my mind the shadowed colorful bloom.  I love when an artist can visually portray a moment like that to her viewer, and Lulu has done it time and time again with her creations.   Each bottle is a work of art, and the story behind it makes it that much more special.  Do you think of the stories behind the polish when you use it?

Purchased

Different Dimensions Today Was A Fairytale Swatch And Review

Purchased

Hello ladies!  How did you spend your New Year's Day?  I went out to dinner with my family at our favorite Japanese Izakaya restaurant.... yum yum.  As for today, I know it's going to be a busy day for me at work.  Luckily it's my last day of work for the week, and then I'm off for a three day weekend.  Woot woot!

In other news, the winners for the Hobby Polish Bloggers Giveaway have been announced, and I believe that the winners have all claimed their prizes.  Congrats if you won!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

To keep in theme with New Year's sparkle, I am happy to swatch Different Dimensions Today Was A Fairytale.  It's a delicate shimmery glitter based polish that's too sheer IMO to wear on its own so I used it over a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls(I'm still not a fan of this... not sure why so many ladies like this).  It's got a ton of pink and silver microglitter to create the shimmer effect, and to accent there are circle glitters in silver and pink and small holographic hex and square glitters.  It's got that wintery feel to it, sort of like iced snow with pink lights shimmering over it.  I used two coats here to maximize the shimmer effect and to get as many circle glitters as I could on the mani.  Unfortunately I didn't get as many as I'd like because they seemed to want to stay at the bottom of my bottle.  This is finished with a layer of topcoat.

Different Dimensions Today Was A Fairytale

Different Dimensions Today Was A Fairytale

Different Dimensions Today Was A Fairytale

Different Dimensions Today Was A Fairytale

Different Dimensions Today Was A Fairytale

Different Dimensions Today Was A Fairytale

The strong pink shimmer effect more than makes up for the lack of circle glitter.  It's probably a good thing that there isn't so many larger glitters anyway, because that can lead to stacking and glitters sticking out off the nail.  I'm always looking at the glass half full.  Speaking of glasses half full, I'd like to fill up mine from last night!  Are you on a sparkly glitter kick like I am, or are you moving onto other colors like vamps?  What's the color scheme for January anyway, being after the holidays but too early for spring?

Purchased

KBShimmer The Dancing Green Swatch And Review

Happy Sunday Funday!  My brothers have both left me from their holiday visit and I know I'll miss them both terribly.  They're both so vibrant and fun, and incredibly thoughtful.  It makes me wish that we all lived closer to each other, especially now that I have a daughter.  I'm sure she'd love to spend more time with her entertaining uncles!  It's times like this that really makes me enjoy holidays, because spending time with family is priceless.

To help closeout the Christmas spirit, I have a bright almost neon green KBShimmer for you called The Dancing Green.  The base is a near jelly electric green packed with dazzling variety of glitter from gold and fuchsia circles, gold microglitter, purple and fuchsia hexes, and a smattering of fuchsia squares.  I used three coats here, and the surprisingly liquid formula was not difficult to apply.  There was no pooling or significant stacking of glitters, and minimal glitter drag.  The glitter ratio to base was good, in that the polish application itself and final mani weren't overwhelmed with glitter.  It dried quickly to a matte finish and called for a good layer of topcoat to add luster and shine.

KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green

I thought this would be a good transition out of Christmas polish because it has the bright Christmas green feel to it but instead of red, there was a generous amount of purple and fuchsia glitters.  The colors make it a non holiday polish that's perfect to wear year round.  The bright colors are a great pick me up from the vampy polishes of winter and fall, and help me anticipate the beginning of a new year.  Are you sad to see 2013 on its way out, or are you ready for a new start?