Sinful Colors - Zeus Swatch & Review

I like polishes that have sneaky shimmer, or shimmer that's like 2 tones off from the base color. That being said, Zeus has a VERY shy shimmer that only comes out in a very particular light. That's okay since the base is a pretty rad dusty purple-toned periwinkle. How, by the way, did periwinkle become a thing? I'm going to Google it.

Also, I've recently become pretty obsessed with Sinful Colors. It's my favorite drugstore brand by faaar, probably in my top three mainstream brands. Zeus was a fairly streaky nightmare, however, but became opaque in three very deliberate, heavy-handed coats. It's shown here in artificial light with Essie GTG on le top.

I acquired Zeus via Pinterest sale (God, I really love those, you know?) along with Sinful Shine - Who's the Gloss, which I'll be posting tomorrow.

ON A SIDE NOTE: it's cold as serious balls in Ohio right now. This would then, of course, be the week after the week I stalked Pinterest relentlessly for lemmings and bought them. Lots of them!

Oh, I can't wait. I love nail mail. Except when it's frozen to death. Poor babies. :(

Comparison Post! ILNP - Cygnus Loop & CrowsToes - Indian Summer

The first time I saw a swatch of Indian Summer I was OBSESSED. Multichromes are my jam, and it looked unlike anything I had in my (mostly unimpressive) collection. However, upon receipt, it instantly reminded me of Cygnus Loop.

The differences are apparent right from the bottle, though. I had hastily thrown Indian Summer onto my swap board for about a week in a frenzied effort to get a hold of polishes I really wanted. I took it off right after swatching, ha ha. I need both, the end.

These are 3 thick-ish coats with Essie Good to Go on top. Artificial light, all of 'em.

You'll immediately notice the difference in the range of shift. I mean, these pretty much don't look like they're even in the same, like, class together at this point.

At least on the nail they look like they could be cousins. Cygnus Loop is much more blue-toned purple than Indian Summer, and it's less saturated. *Edit: "The difference is in the finish I would say, where ILNP is more metallic and Crowstoes is more like a thin jelly". Yeah! Thanks Ashley Rose Jordan. :)

Indian Summer shifts violet through magenta, red and stops just short of orange while Cygnus Loop goes right on through to bright gold.

Aaaaand a glamour shot:

I guess I should mention that in darker lighting, the difference really is pretty small. But that's irrelevant, because duh.

Sinful Colors - Got a Blush On You Swatch & Review

Happy New Year, you guys. I spent a super low-key evening with three of my four favorite people alive. A few years ago, my resolution was to stop biting my nails. It only took like 8 years but BAM nails time!

Arriving super late to the party as usual, my first swatch of the new year is from the Sinful Colors Crystal Crushes collection. I picked this guy up as well as Treasure Chest aaaand I'm going to grab a few other colors while they're still around. I'm kind of wary of 'trend' finishes (see: crackle, matte, etc) but I really love a good texture. My first texture polish was China Glaze - Itty, Bitty & Gritty and I haaaated it. The JulieG Gumdrops polishes redeemed textures for me though, and I've been hooked ever since.

Got a Blush On You is a blue-leaning magenta with pink and blue sparkle. Pretty much opaque in 3 thin coats, the dry time was quick and the texture is reasonably fine. It doesn't feel like sandpaper all over my nails.

(Side note: my mother-in-law-ish got me a light box for Christmas and these swatches are the first to utilize it! Hearts explosion!)

Artificial light.

Artificial light.

Natural light.

I don't have a resolution this year. I dunno. Do... things? I'm such a homebody these days. Maybe maintain a blog that doesn't tooootally suck butt. My swatches are getting better, at least. Thanks, light box!

Peppermint Stripe Nails

Have I talked about how much I love when things look like things? Like, things that don't ordinarily look like the things they're currently looking like make me so happy. For example, human nails that look like candy canes. Loooooves it.

I applied 2 coats of Scherer Chameleon - Dreams (which in its own right is pretty sweet. I haaaaayeeeet pearl finishes, but this one wasn't so awful, plus the color shift from pink to green with the white base is, like, pretty, you know?) with a coat of Essie - Waltz over it. Waltz is transparent enough that you can see Dreams under it, but opaque enough to hide the pearl finish and add some substance. The result looked like pulled candy, or like a candy cane with the red off. Exactly what I was going for, which never happens the first time around.

Some striping tape, a layer of China Glaze - Ruby Pumps and a couple coats of Essie Good to Go finished the jorb.

I hopped on the DIY nail polish ornaments bandwagon too. That guy has 2 coats of China Glaze - L8R G8R all up ins. YOLO!!!

So anyway, I probably won't post again for another like 8 years, so uh, Merry Christmas (or whatever) and Happy New Year and all of that. XOXOXOXO

Lynnderella - Mlle. Violette de Bleu Swatch & Review

Yo! No hotdogs on this day.

So here's that Lynnderella I was telling you about.
It's a vaguely pigmented blurple base (is that on purp-ose?) with a couple sizes of blue and, like, violet and holographic periwinkle hex glitter... except I believe the blue is the only color that is multi-sized. And by multi-sized I mean there's a small kind, and a super small kind. This is kind of ridiculous, but I honestly cannot tell if there are violet AND periwinkle holographic glitter. I'm looking right at the bottle, right? And I'm like 85% sure there is. How can I not just tell? Because I'm getting old, is how. Old eyes. So anyway.

This is one dabbed-on not-terribly-thick coat over Mentality - Moe (do you remember that post?). I've heard pretty righteous things about Lynnderella and her glitter sorcery. So, obvs the glitter payoff was solid. Didn't dry insanely lumpy but I still used a pretty hefty layer of Essie G2G over it.

I read about the cloud of dramaaahhh surrounding Lynnderella and wasn't convinced that the polishes were worth the money (or the hassle in some cases). I'm also not a huge fan of glitter toppers, so I guess in a way this was working out in my and my financial lameness's favor. That being said, I'm quite thrilled with Mlle. Violette de Bleu and I'm delighted in getting able to wear a polish I likely would never have gotten otherwise. I'm starting to sing a different tune about Lynnderella as a whole...

Read: new obsession a-brewing.

Mentality Nail Polish - Moe Swatch & Review

"Well, if I'm gonna have one hot dog, I may as well have two hot dogs". -Boyfriend

So hi guys.
I have a very pretty nail polish on my fingers on this day. It's by Mentality. Mentality Nail Polish. It's called Moe. There's also Eeny, Meeny and Miney, but I only own Moe. So here's Moe.

Moe's, like, this lavender base with a strong blue flash and subtle linear holo. It was pretty much opaque after two coats but there's three here just in case. Applied like a champion. Also a coat of Essie Good to Go topcoat is on top... coat.

And here it is with flash:

Is this even a review? I don't know. The brush was nice and wider than your average, normal brush (but not OPI wide) and I already told you that it applied nicely. And it's pretty to look at. So, I guess the bases are covered. I'm pretty sure. I really like it, though, like a lot. I'm going to be owning quite a few more Mentality Nail Polish polishes in the future. But hopefully not too far in the future.

Fun Story: I got my first Lynnderella in the mail today (which I shall show you tomorrow because that's how I do things, okay?) and it's called Mlle. Violette de Bleu. Do you want to know how I got it, even? Well, I sold a polish to a girl, and this girl, she decides to send me this Lynnderella JUST BECAUSE. Jenne, you are my spirit animal. That's pretty much the highest compliment I can give to a person.

Hey. I'm pretty excited for Christmas.

OPI - La Boheme & Royal Rajah Ruby

I found La Boheme in a nail salon that I've passed a thousand times! Ayyayayayayaya!
I also picked up Royal Rajah Ruby. The perfect Christmas color for me if ever there was one.

<3 La Boheme <3

My index and middle are RRR whilst my ring and pinky are La Boheme; 3 coats of each with 1 coat Seche Vite. Hey, look! My nails are finally happening again. :D

Sunlight.

Sunlight.

Sunlight & flash.

Flash.

Not that I'm not in love with La Boheme, but my favorite from this collection is still Movin' Out. Or maybe Man of La Mancha is. Although I don't own the whole collection (yet...) so maybe neither of those are ACTUALLY my favorite... or maybe one of them is... but maybe not... or maybe...