Showing posts with labelYellow.Show all posts
Showing posts with labelYellow.Show all posts
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Jessica Ignite Summer 2010 Collection Review

Jessicahas two new collections for summer which will be available on their website shortly. You can view both collections (bottle pictures)here, and up first for review isIgnite. The press release describe this collection as follows:Ignite sparks six new fluorescent colours that run the gamut from punchy purples and funky fuchsias to techno turquoise andunmellowyellow. Adding a kaleidoscope of color to your nails with neon bright shades is a great way to bring back a touch of intensity.

Above:Pink Explosion is a vivid pink neon that dries to a semi-gloss finish. All photos are shown using 2 coats.
Below:Orange Zest dried with a little flatter finish that Pink Explosion, but these polishes surprised me when they dried, because their finish is not nearly as flat or matte as otherneonsI've used. This is a perfect shade of orange with a name that describes it well.
Below:I was curious how these wouldKonad(m63 plate) becauseneonsusually dry so quickly, making them hard to work with. This is Yellow Flame over Orange Zest, and while the yellow was not as intense as I would've liked, it worked well with regard to the drying time for stamping.
Below:Blue Blast is a beautiful cerulean blue shade.
Below:Electric Teal is the only shimmer in this collection, and those of you who know my polish color preferences, know that I love this!
Below:Here's a bottle comparison with Color Club's Wild Child to give you a better idea of the shade.
Below:Purple Burst is a bright fuchsia-purple-violet (how's that for an accurate description!) shade that dried to the high gloss finish you see with no top coat.
Below:Yellow Flame is a near dupe of ChinaGlaze'sYellow Polka Dot Bikini, only the Jessica polish had superior coverage. You'll see what I mean in the photos below.
Below:The Ignite collection, beingneons, really impressed me by how well they covered and the pigmentation in them. I loveneons, especially in summer, but they are usually streaky and take a little patience to apply. The Jessica polishes applied very evenly on the first coat and dry quickly, so I found the application to be superb to any otherneons.
Below:I did a quick comparison using just one coat on each nail. The polishes I used are all extremely close in color--QuiriusThe History Night vs. Jessica Purple Burst, and China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini vs. Jessica Yellow Flame. The Jessica products are on my middle and pinkie fingers.
I'm very happy with this neon collection and the shades it contains. It's a varied palette of colors and the formula was fantastic. I would say it leaned slightly toward the thick side, but not so much that I felt the need to thin it. It seems to be just right forneons,因为它有足够的色素ation for great coverage. The finish on these is what I would call a semi-gloss, and are still glossy enough that I would feel comfortable wearing them without a top coat. These retail for $7.50 and should be available before the end of the month. As soon as I hear back from Jessica with a date, I'll be sure to update my post. I have also purchased this brand fromhello-gorgeous.netfor $4.95 each, but they don't normally stock the most recent shades, nor do they carry the entire line.
*Products featured were furnished by the manufacturer or PR firm for review.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

NOTD That I'm Not Loving, But All Is Not Lost!

BBCouture's Daisy Dweller is the second polish I've tried from the Ladybug Collection, and I've got to say, I'm not loving it on me. It's quite sheer after 3 coats, and I have no tan yet, which isn't helping matters any! The first one I tried from this set was Ode to a Ladybug, which I loved (hereis my post on that one).

Below:I wondered how it would work as a layering polish, so I tried it over Misa's A Sin Worth Committing, which is a deep royal, almost navy shimmer, and I like it much better this way. I used just one coat of Daisy Dweller, and the glitter seems much more pronounced over a darker background. It has just enough yellow to lighten the Misa shade a notch or two, yet it doesn't look yellow at all.
I suppose if I layered it over a white base it would look more like it does in the bottle, but honestly, I've never found a yellow that works well for me, other than possibly Misa's Summer Sun. I definitely prefer this one as a layering polish. I wanted to remind everyone that my Rescue Beauty Lounge contest ends tomorrow at midnight. If you haven't entered yet and would like a chance to win all 3 shades in their Surfer Girl Collection, you can find all the details in the April Monthly Contest box in the upper right corner. I also wanted to let you know about another contest that's going on over at Bella Sugar Cosmetics. I've done a couple of posts about her hand-pressed mineral eye shadows and bath and body products, which you can findhere. She is having a contest that will award 2 winners a quad eye shadow palette, and 8 winners a single eye shadow. All you have to do is leave a comment on her bloghereand be a follower. If you mention her contest on your blog, she'll give you a second entry if you include the link in your comment. This is open to International readers and ends April 16 at 11:59 pm. I have been very impressed with the colors she offers and the superb quality. You can view all of the color options on her blog and also on herweb site. Lastly, I now have over 1,000 followers and would like to thank you all for your continued support!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

China Glaze Poolside-2 More! Sun Worshiper & Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Here we go, two more from theChina GlazePoolside Collection! You can find swatches of Pool Party and Flip Flop Fantasy in the post below this one, and I'll be back later today with Towel Boy Toy and Kiwi Cool-Ada. The sunshine we're enjoying today, along with these colors, have put me in a great mood. Come on Summer!

Above & Below:Sun Worshiper is like nothing I have in my collection. I have yellows and oranges, but I have noorangello! I opted for 3 coats on these over a white base color, and anystreakinessthat was evident on the first 2 coats disappeared after the final coat. Yellow Polka Dot Bikini is afluorescentyellow that looks like it could glow in the dark! The formula on this one seemed a little thinner than the others, but didn't pose any real problems.
As I mentioned in my previous post, these are working out much better using a white base coat. I am usingOPIVan-Couveredin Snow, because although I have no scientific evidence to back this up, I'm finding that I get a more even application if I use a shimmer instead of a creme for the white base. I'm wondering if perhaps the neon shades apply better over a shimmer because the metal flake gives them something to adhere to. At any rate, I'm totally enjoying this collection. I'm not having any real problems with the application, which has been my complaint in the past with neon shades.
*Products in this post were furnished by the manufacturer or PR firm for review.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Orly Sweet Spring II 2010: Pixy Stix, Lemonade & Gumdrop

Above:Pixy Stix is a Carnation pink with a hint of Coral. This was my personal favorite of the three.
Below:Lemonade is a lighter shade of yellow, the perfect 'butter' yellow. Once the second coat was applied, an opaque look was achieved. Very rare, in my experience with yellows.
Below:My apologies for neglecting to push the Macro button on my camera for this one. Gumdrop also covered nicely in 2 coats. The official description of this is a Pastel Turquoise. I compared it to several polishes I have, and it is extremely close to China Glaze For Audrey. Before I removed this one, I applied For Audrey over one nail, and the difference was very minimal.
Orly'ssecond collection for Spring 2010 is simply called Sweet, and includes 6 pastel creme shades that come with matching lip gloss mini's. As I've mentioned before, I get a little nervous when I use pastel creme shades, because my application skills are lacking in those types of formulas and I usually end up with more coats than I'd like, as well as streaking. Not so much with these though, I'm happy to report! I used 2 coats on all 3 of these, and the formula performed better than most pastel cremes I have used in the past. The drying time was very good, and they all finished with a high gloss shine. This is a very nice Spring collection and the colors make me happy! I don't know that I've ever noticed this before, but Orly's polishes contain 0.6 fl. oz., rather than the standard 0.5 fl. oz. You can clickhereto see a photo of the entire collection and read their official description.
*This post features sample products furnished by the manufacturer or PR firm.

Friday, January 15, 2010

What's Color Club Planning for Spring 2010?

The lovely and gracious Yen fromVictoria Nail Supplyjust sent over a teaser photo of some of Color Club's Spring/Summer 2010 collection shades. I will be getting more information on this hopefully next week, including nail wheel swatches. I apologize that I don't yet have the name of the collection or any other details about it, but I'll let you know as soon as I do. It's no surprise that they're following the pastel creme trend now, is it? I'm guessing those are cremes, don't you agree? Color Club collections normally include 6 polishes, so along with all of my other assumptions in this post, I'll go with that thought! Not much information, but the shades are pretty and I'm really drawn to the green one. What do you think? Are you still enjoying the pastel trend or have you had your fill?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Coming Up: Orly Sweet Spring II 2010 & A Few Links I Think You'll Enjoy!

Above & Below:3 of the polishes from Orly's Sweet Collection L-R: Pixy Stix, Lemonade, and Gumdrop. All 6 of the polishes in this collection are cremes, and come with matching flavored mini lip glosses. The official release date is April 2010.
Good morning! I received 3 of the 6 polishes in Orly's upcoming second Spring collection, Sweet. I'll be swatching these shortly, and finishing up the other 9 American Apparel polishes as well. This will be a short-on-pictures post because my husband and I are heading to South Bend, IN today. Some of you may remember that we adopted a German Shepherd last month from a high kill shelter in Georgia...he was heart worm positive, which we knew, but in doing his testing last week during the staging of his heart worm treatment, some tests revealed that he has something wrong with his kidneys also. Before his heart worm treatment begins, we need to figure out what's going on with his kidneys, so he's going to a specialist to get a Doppler Ultrasound performed. Keep your pretty polished finger crossed that it's something manageable. The good news is, there are lots and lots of independent beauty supply stores in South Bend, as well as 4-5 Meijer stores so I can restock the ever-popular Massini Slamming Red and Purple Medallion. The procedure takes 2-3 hours, so hmmm, what to do? Wait in the animal clinic's waiting room, or have my husband drive me around to as many polish stores as possible during the wait? Tough decision!

Here are a couple of links for you to check out, one being a fantastic new blog, the other being a little inspirational nail art. Megan started her blog,Little Music Boxes, just this month. I've got to tell you, she has a top-notch blog with beautiful photos of her nails and extremely well-written content. She told me that mine was one of the blogs that inspired her to start her own, which I take as quite a compliment, because her style is truly an inspiration to me. I may have inspired her hownotto do a blog, or hownotto paint your nails near the cuticle! Wherever her inspiration came from, she's putting it to good use. She is a regular poster on Makeup Alley, so you may recognize her impeccable application from there. She is studying to become a math teacher, so maybe her exacting application skills come from having such an analytical mathematician's mind, I don't know. She also did several thorough comparisons last week, including mint greens, taupes and reds. Head on over and check out her work. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

NAILS Magazine recently launched a new blog on January 1st, called365 Days of Nail Art. It is not a 'how to' as far as the designs are concerned, but rather, just one photo each day of nail art to give inspiration for your own interpretation and ideas. Some of them are a little 'out there' (look at day 9!), while others are more 'wearable' (look at day 3). It's fun to see some of the various looks, and maybe you'll find an idea there you can re-create.

*This post features sample products furnished by the manufacturer or PR firm.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Part II: American Apparel Polishes-Mouse, Hunter & Manila

Above & Below:Mouse, shown above in direct sunlight and below with a flash, is a warm-toned grey-beige shade, or a light taupe. All photos are shown using 2 coats.
Below:A quick bottle comparison shows you that Mouse is quite similar in shade level to Orly's Country Club Khaki, although it's a richer and warmer shade. Orly's Prince Charming andOPI'sYou Don't Know Jacques are to the right of Country Club Khaki.
Below:Hunter is a deep Forest green shade, but not so dark that it looks black.
Below:Another bottle comparison. Orly's Enchanted Forest is the closest match I have, whileSephorabyOPIoffers a much darker hue with Dark Room.
Below:Manila, even after adding a few drops of thinner, is still a little thick. In it's praise, I'll tell you that for a yellow shade, which are notorious for streaking, this one applied very well and gave an opaque look with just 2 coats. The photo is showing this shade a little brighter than it truly is, and for classification purposes, I would call it a Goldenrod yellow.
I have 3 more reader request swatches for you fromAmerican Apparel's最近发布的波兰集合。你可以找到the first 3 I posted just below this post. There are 18 colors in this debut offering, and I believe they are all cremes. The shades are actually standard colors as far as colors go (take a look in the 96 piece Crayon box), but not so standard with regard to nail polish colors. That's what I like about these the most, is that very few of them are close to anything else I have in my collection. I did add thinner to all of them after having problems with a somewhat thick formula on my first swatches, and that made a big difference in a good way. Manila is still thicker than what I'd like, but I can fix that later. Otherwise, 2 coats gave me a very nice finished look, and the drying time was good. Yesterday I shared an excerpt fromAA'spress release, which gave the origin of some of the shades and their names. I don't know the origin of these 3, but I'm most curious about Mouse.

Here's some additional interesting information about the manufacturing aspect of this polish, again, from their press release:

For the initial run of bottles, which will be sold exclusively in American Apparel shops worldwide, the creative directors found a true family-operated nail polish manufacturer in New York City with whom they instantly connected. Together they worked to develop a beautiful high-quality polish using the techniques and secrets the family had been using since the early 1970's--symbolized best by the 91-year-old grandmother who still fills the bottles.

"It was important to us that we work with a domestic manufacturer who had a long history in the business. Like our clothing, the palette is intended for year-round use. It's a painterly range of colors designed for long-term appeal and creative interpretation. We put equal focus on making sure the polish and the colors were both durable and beautiful," said Marsha Brady, a creative director for American Apparel.

The part about the 91-year-old grandmother still filling the bottles is pretty impressive. It sounds like American Apparel did everything right with their foray into nail polish, from the color choices, to finding an American manufacturer with deep roots in the industry. I wanted to mention that one of my readers left a comment yesterday that these polishes are indeed available in the 3/$15.00 pack pricing online. I had called when I placed my order about that, but at the time, they weren't offering a price break on multiple bottles. Icould'vegotten 3 more bottles at that rate, and then I would have had them all. Oh well!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure: Yellow Kitty

Above & Below:Yellow Kitty shown indoors with an Ott light, no flash. I used 3 coats and still had some streakiness, so I added a thin fourth coat. Surprisingly, it dried quickly even with that many coats.
Yellow Kitty is from Sally Hansen's newly re-formulated polish line called Complete Salon Manicure. I picked several of these up at Walmart a few weeks back, and although I'm not too impressed with the formula on Yellow Kitty (this is 3-4 coats!), the color range is excellent. I did add a few drops of thinner to this after trying it once and ending up with quite a mess. I'm not entirely happy with this manicure either, but trust me, had you seen my first attempt, you'd think this one looked perfect! I posted a few of the other shadeshere, and found the formula to be much less problematic on these, than I did with Yellow Kitty. The brush in Yellow Kitty was cut better than the one I previously had issues with, so that was a relief. I do love this shade of yellow, because it's the perfect Butter yellow shade that I've always been attracted to. I have one more to show you later today from this line called Gilty Pleasure. I'm not discouraged with these, but I do find the combination of the handle/brush a bit difficult to work with. And of course the $6.50 price tag seems high, but as I mentioned, many of the shades are quite unique and different.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Color Club Japanese Exclusive Glitter: Dazzling Orange

Above & Below:Dazzling Orange shown with just 2 coats. This is much more pigmented than I imagined it would be.
嗯,这个让我吃惊……在一个好方法!我富尔语ly expected not to like Dazzling Orange, thinking it would be extremely sheer, and being yellow...that just didn't sound like a good start. It's a cross between yellow and orange, reminding me of the color of fresh-squeezed orange juice. I only had to use 2 coats to get the look you see in the photos, whereas the others have generally taken 3 coats. I would imagine this would look even better if it were summer and I had a tan. I then put a coat of Black Radiance Risque over it, which is a brown shimmer. The glitter didn't show through at all on this one, unlike the others I've posted down below. Once I put a coat of Dazzling Orange over the top of Risque, I suddenly had the urge to make a pan of brownies topped with Rainbow Sprinkles!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

5 Finger Paints, 5 Less On My Untried Shelf!

Above & Below:Please disregard my cuticles. I used a different product (Avon) instead of my usual Sally Hansen cuticle remover and it was very hard on my skin and cuticles. Turquoise Tile is a perfect turquoise shimmer. Lilac Lagoon is also a favorite, with it's delicate color and subtle gold shimmer.
Below:Butterscotch Cookie is an eye-catching gold shimmer. It's bright and shiny, just as gold should be!
Below:creme-t黄色比基尼和成熟的桃子都好ype shades that have the slightest hint of shimmer to them. My only complaint was that I needed 3 coats, instead of the usual 2.
很多涉世不深的,我知道很多的问题s have, I decided to swatch some Finger Paints that have been patiently awaiting their turn! Finger Paints makes a great quality product, but because they're only available at Sally Beauty, I think they go unnoticed by a large percentage of people. The first two I swatched, Ripe Peach and Yellow Bikini, appear to be cremes. If you look closely, you can see the slightest hint of a shimmery sheen. I liked the shades very much, but I had to use 3 coats to get total coverage. They performed more like pastel creme shades do, which often cause me problems upon the application. The other 3, Butterscotch Cookie, Turquoise Tile, and Lilac Lagoon, applied in typical Finger Paints fashion: perfectly, in 2 coats. I'm not very helpful on when these came out and which ones may still be available, because I've had them for quite a while. I believe Butterscotch Cookie is from last year's holiday collection, likely making it hard to find. The other 4 I believe came out in their Spring 2009 collection, so they may still be available here and there. If anyone else knows any more information about their availability, feel free to mention it in the comments.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

8 New VNS Color Club Japanese Glitter Nail Wheel Swatches

Above:This color collage shows the base colors most accurately. Below are a variety of photos taken indoors and outdoors (no sun, unfortunately) in different levels of light. Hopefully, you'll get a fairly good idea of how they look in real life.
Below:For reference, the colors on the board are 1)Blue Hawaii, 2)Fresh Mint, 3)Dazzling Orange (this is not orange, but actually yellow), 4)Twinkle Peach (more pink than peach), 5)Sparkling Cassis, 6)Bishop's Weed, 7)Calendula for Joy, 8)Rose, I Love You.
Last week I showed you bottle pictures of the 8 new Color Club Japanese Exclusive Glitters that Yen fromVictoria Nail Supplysent me, and I received a polish wheel with the swatches from her today. I'm guessing they should have these in stock by the end of the month. Naturally, Fresh Mint was the one I was most looking forward to, but now that I have the swatches in front of me, there's a 3-way tie for my affections between Fresh Mint, Blue Hawaii and Rose, I Love You! Let me explain why...Fresh Mint is green, so that's my reason for liking it, pure and simple. Blue Hawaii is blue, so can I use the same reason I used for Fresh Mint? Rose, I Love You is a shade or two below a fuchsia, but it looks holographic because of the fine glitter and the color combination between the base color and the glitter. Bishop's Weed is another favorite of mine because it reminds me of new fallen snow with the sunlight reflecting off of it. I like the range of colors in this set, as there's much more variety than in the original 4 that they carry (2 pinks, a peachy pink and my favorite, Too Violet). These are all packed with micro fine holographic glitter, giving them a flash of different colors, depending on the base shade. At different angles, they take on an almost foil finish, because the glitter is so dense. What do you think? Any favorites among these for you?

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Skittle Glitters: China Glaze Trophy Wife, Blue Hawaiian, Sunshine, Sour Apple

Above & Below:Photos were taken outdoors under cloudy (sigh, again) skies, no flash. Index=Trophy Wife, Middle=Blue Hawaiian, Ring=Sunshine, Pinkie=Sour Apple.

Below:Bottle pictures L-R: Trophy Wife, Blue Hawaiian, Sunshine, Sour Apple.
Realizing that if I don't start posting more I'm never going to get through all of these polishes at the rate they are coming out, I decided to do a quick 'skittles' with some of the new China Glaze Glitters, Shimmers and Cremes. This isn't my favorite way to present a polish, but it gets the point across!

Trophy Wifeis one of the shimmers and it's a subtle salmon pink shade with silver micro-shimmer pieces. My first thought when describing the color was a dusty rose, but it does have some salmon tone to it also. The silver shimmer is abundant in this one, which I think adds to the beauty. It applied well in 3 thin coats, although the formula was on the thin/runny side. The shimmer is reminiscent of a couple of polishes in Color Club's Wild at Heart collection, giving it the slightest holo look.

Blue Hawaiianis a brighter and lighter shade of turquoise, packed full of multi-colored reflective glitter. The green and blue glitter are the most apparent, although there is some bright pink and yellow glitter that shows up as well. This also was done in 3 thin coats and the formula did not seem as jelly-like as some of the previous Glitters from this collection that I've tried. In fact, all 3 of these Glitters seem to have a nicer formula than the others I've used.

Sunshineis of course, the color of sunshine...bright, yellow and fun. The glitter appears to be primarily silver in the bottle, but once applied the pieces reflect the light and you end up with a variety of colors. I see blue, red, pink and gold upon closer examination on my nail. This also is 3 coats and it's still quite sheer. I'm sure that if it were to be applied over a white or yellow base, it would look much better.

Sour Apple 让我想起了苹果味的Ra的颜色ncher candies. Again, this polish is filled with multi-colored glitter and appears too sheer for my liking in 3 coats, but a base color would likely take care of that problem. Some of these sheerer shades would look fantastic over black, particularly this one.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Brand Focus: Nicole by OPI

Above:L-R Respect the World and Blue Lace, both shimmers. RtW is more green-based while BL is more blue based.

Below:L-R Deeply in Love, You Go, Girl! DiL is a beautiful blood red creme, YGG a dusty rose shimmer.

Above:My small Nicole collection L-R: Deeply in Love, Volunteer Cheer, Respect the World, Blue Lace, Change the World, You Go, Girl!, The Right Thing, One Voice.

Above:L-R Volunteer Cheer, Change the World. Very similar colors, both are shimmers. In real life VC is little bit more red-based, CtW is more pink-based.

Below:L-R The Right Thing, One Voice, both are shimmers. One Voice is a bright pinkish-orange coral.
Nicole by OPIpolishes are not mentioned too much in the nail polish world, even though they are manufactured by possibly the world's largest and most dominating name in the field, OPI. Their marketing tag line is 'Colors with a Conscience'.Not only are they Big-3 Free, they also have a philosophy of giving back to society and the environment in which we live. They make monetary contributions to these causes, do not test on animals and use recyclable glass packaging. Many of their polish names reflect their attitude toward global issues, both human and environmental. On their website they state that 'At Nicole by OPI, our favorite color is green' in referencing the 'green' environmental movement. That's a great philosophy to have, and their contributions are certainly appreciated, but shouldn't they offer more green polishes then? I say that half-kidding, but I do think they should! This line does not have a big color range and although they do come out with collections and new colors, the choices are still rather limited. The formula applies very well and the staying power is right up there with the best of them. I used only 2 coats in all of these pictures with the exception of the yellow, which is 3 coats and still a bit 'patchy'...common with most yellows I have, no matter what the brand. They also offer a top coat and a base coat, although in print, they don't look like anything special. These are available at many store chains including Walgreen's, CVS, Target and Meijer and retail for between $6.00-$8.00. I am fortunate enough to live near a Meijer and every couple of months I stop in to check their polish stock. I find they often have a few Nicole's on clearance for $1.59, which is a great price for the quality. Are they worth $8.00? Not in my opinion, but if they came out with some greens? I'm sure I'd change my opinion!