Winter Wonders: Essie ‘Shine of the Times’

November 29, 2011 By StephanieLouise 896Leave a Comment2011-11-29+18%3A15%3A00StephanieLouise

So as we get ever so close to December, I’ve been putting together holiday posts like crazy. My first post, however, is of (you guessed it!) a fabulous nail polish. Essie Shine of the Times embodies everything I wanted for a Limited Edition polish this season. Okay, I’m not all that hard to please. I have a flakie addiction and I’m completely okay with that! Still, the application is flawless and the looks are endless.

So here are my base colors (2 coats each):

Pinky- Sinful Colors in Snow Me White

Ring- Pure Ice in Kiss Me Here (weird name for a gray eh?)

Middle- Wet n Wild The Gold & the Beautiful from the Color Craze Collection

Pointer- China Glaze in City Siren

Thumb- LA Colors Nail Lacquer in Black Velvet

1 Coat of Essie Shine of the Times over every finger except the thumb, 2 coats on that! Then a top coat of Seche Vite.

Clearly, the star of the show is the black, as expected. The rest of the colors I picked were primarily colors I wear this season, minus a navy (close to the black) & the green. You’ll probably see it over green soon if that’s what you were hoping for! I threw in the metallic gold to show people why it doesn’t show up and why it looks better over a solid color.

This is a flakie polish suspended in a clear base that shines mainly red, orange, & vibrant green. Flecks of other colors can be seen at certain angles, especially depending on your base.

I really think the white is the only one that was SUPER hard to capture. It’s honestly gorgeous, looks just like those fake snow bits you see in store displays. The gray came out amazing. The gold is a fail in my book. The red came out a pretty flame type manicure. & the black…just look at it!

I picked up Essie Shine of the Times at Walgreens for around $8. The formula is perfection when it comes to a flakie and I hope they come out with many (MANY!) more! This is the kind of nail polish I consider an investment!

I didn’t think the photos did it enough justice, so check out the video! Its short but shows this polish off like it deserves!

Mani of the Day: It’s All in the Cut from Wet n Wild

November 17, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9004 Comments2011-11-17+18%3A22%3A00StephanieLouise

2 Coats.

As I say goodbye to my Ice Baby Collection posts, I am going out with a bang. It’s All in the Cut is an expected combination for winter, but it works. This is a silver toned lavender micro glitter with pink-toned rose gold hex glitter mixed throughout. I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect rose gold polish & I wish I could extract each of these glitters on their own, they’re that gorgeous! This is 2 coats of perfection, expect to see this again in spring as well!

2 Coats.

1 Coat.

Here’s my first look at the Ice Baby Collection from Wet n Wild.

For the specific description of the texture of the polish, see my first review of ‘Back Alley Deals’

Sunday Haul: Sally Hansen & Revlon Holiday!

November 13, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9023 Comments2011-11-13+22%3A28%3A00StephanieLouise

So today I was at the BX (military version of a Walmart…but wayyyy smaller) and spotted these. I wasn’t wanting to go cosmetics shopping but these popped out at me. The main purchase was the Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Decadent. A violet with blue shimmer? Need. So…do you think I could pick up just one thing with all the fantabulous Christmas packages? Oh no, stop being silly! Please do keep in mind its 4:30 and the color swatches won’t be as dead-on as they usually are. Don’t worry, I’ll be reviewing them soon!

I guess we’ll start with the releases from Revlon in the Spice It Up Collection. Here are the 2 Revlon Colorburst Lipglosses in Decadent (violet with blue shimmer) & Cocktail Dress (nude with champagne and light bronze shimmer, superfine rainbow shimmer, & possibly superfine champagne flakies? I might be crazy though we’ll see in the review with better lighting ). I had my pick of the entire Spice It Up Collection, but these were the 2 I deemed ‘Must-Haves’ obviously.

& the 2 nail polishes I picked up Mistletoe (a blackened green with olive shimmer and golden/olive tiny flakies) & Spice It Up (blackened maroon with a fine shimmer throughout ranging from golden to orange). Hello FALL!

So, here are the 2 Sally Hansen Holiday Sets I snagged. I already picked up the 10 Piece Set which I reviewed, but this was tougher. There are 4 sets of nail polish minis but this is the one I wanted the most. The HD collection is one of my favorites.

The other set was more of a random pick-up. This one has 2 plumping glosses and one nail polish in Night Lights. Night Lights is a super gorgeous gray jelly with silvery gunmetal and rainbow holo glitter. It was a must.

The glosses are new for me and actually not what I expected. I was thinking of my Lip Venoms but these are completely different, must more water based but still with a crazy shine. The all gold gloss is Sally Hansen Lip Inflation in ‘Extreme’ which is a clear gloss & the colored gloss is in ‘Sheer Bare’ which has spaced out micro rainbow sparkles in it. I kind of like that the shimmer has such a light touch, makes it a lot more wearable.

Are you hauling anything today? See anything you especially like?

Mani of the Day: Rockin Rubies from Wet n Wild

November 9, 2011 By StephanieLouise 905Leave a Comment2011-11-09+18%3A45%3A00StephanieLouise

So although I’m really sick, I’m trudging on. I might not be wanting to show you my red nose or puffy eyes, but my nails are still kickin!

3 Coats.

So I thought this was the most obvious out of the collection in terms of winter. I liked that the additional glitter is pink instead of silver or gold which is awesome. This is a greyer base than the others with a fine red glitter throughout. The bigger round glitter is a light pink. I see tons of potential for the idea of this polish, but the gray base kind of overshadows the pink glitter. I think it would’ve stood out a lot better if it had been a pearly white or a HOT pink. Below is 1 coat, 2 coats, & the final 3 coats. I could ALMOST get away with 2, but for pictures 3 was necessary. What do you think of this shade?

1 Coat.

2 Coats.

3 Coats.

Here’s my first look at the Ice Baby Collection from Wet n Wild.

For the specific description of the texture of the polish, see my first review of ‘Back Alley Deals’

Mani of the Day: Diamond in the Rough from Wet n Wild

November 7, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9081 Comment2011-11-07+19%3A15%3A00StephanieLouise

3 coats.

1 coat.

Woo I finally get to post this! So I did indeed paint my nails yesterday with Diamond in the Rough, then I promptly lost the bottle in the chaos of unpacking. However, I received it and was able to snap a few pictures before starting to get ready for work. Sorry if they’re pretty low-quality, it is DIM today!

A lot of bloggers are calling it silver or gray but it looks like gunmetal to me. I love that its a gunmetal, its very rare I say that! It also has small, circular holo glitter throughout the micro gunmetal. Like all the rest in the Ice Baby collection, the glitter is suspended in a clear base. This is one of the less dense glitters so far taking 3 coats instead of 2 for full coverage. There’s just something so gorgeous about a gunmetal polish, and the holo takes it to the next level.

Here’s my first look at the Ice Baby Collection from Wet n Wild.

For the specific description of the texture of the polish, see my first review of ‘Back Alley Deals’

Mani of the Day: Give Me A Price Quote from Wet n Wild

November 5, 2011 By StephanieLouise 909Leave a Comment2011-11-05+14%3A56%3A00StephanieLouise

One coat.

So here is the first of the Ice Baby Collection swatches containing bar glitter! I’m not a huge fan, but I see how I could use it in the future. I wouldn’t go full coverage again though, I feel it kind of defeats the purpose of the bar glitter because you can’t see it very well. Over purple or black though, I think it’d be pretty fun. I usually don’t purchase bar glitter polishes because they are scratchy and snag everything, but these are superfine so they don’t. However, this one is also a mix of superfine glitter like the others. This is great for winter as a full coverage polish because I think it looks SO much like tweed! This one did take 3 coats for full coverage though!

Here’s my first look at the Ice Baby Collection from Wet n Wild.

For the specific description of the texture of the polish, see my first review of ‘Back Alley Deals’

Mani of the Day: Believe Me, Its Real from Wet n Wild

November 5, 2011 By StephanieLouise 910Leave a Comment2011-11-05+03%3A16%3A00StephanieLouise

2 Coats for Full Coverage!

Hello all! So today I posted my Sephora Rant about why I won’t be shopping there. I then took a break to work out that frustration & now my pictures are ready to show you! This is “Believe Me, Its Real’ from Wet n Wild’s Limited Edition Ice Baby Collection. It is very similar in texture to Back Alley Deals but with a few differences. I found Believe Me, Its Real to be more difficult to photograph and (see photo below of one coat) less dense. My husband picked this from the bunch, which I often let him do. Of course he went with the blue one, not the blue micro glitter within a clear base with fuchsia glitter. I wouldn’t normally do two back to back so similar, but I asked and he answered! What do you guys think of this shade? I loved it as a full coated glitter, it caught the sparse light we had beautifully!

Mani of the Day: Back Alley Deals from Wet n Wild

November 4, 2011 By StephanieLouise 912Leave a Comment2011-11-04+02%3A18%3A00StephanieLouise

Like I said, today I wore Back Alley Deals and loved it. However, there’s a lot to discuss!

Here’s one medium coat for minimal coverage.

& here’s 2 coats for full coverage!

So here’s the deal. Gorgeous color, extremely unique, & only $3? Yes, you read that correctly! For the full collection which I hauled today, click HERE.

This is unlike anything I already have. Back Alley Deals is a superfine purple glitter in a clear base with fuchsia hex glitter. Totally vibrant. I know a lot of bloggers/gurus are thinning these polishes out, but I think they’re crazy. Is it thick? Yep. But I like it that way! Its not very often I come across a full coverage glitter and when I do, I certainly don’t want to thin it out! I do have 2 issues with this polish, but they’re both minimal. Its a drying formula, but that’s fine because its the reason the glitter is so dense. Another to keep in mind? It is a top coat sucker. I top coated one finger with my Seche Vite then realized….ha….there’s no way I can afford to top all of them this week with a more expensive top coat. Plus, I kind of like the gritty, raw feeling of it.

Have you picked this up? If not, see my entire LE Ice Baby from Wet n Wild haul post about where to look & the other shades available!

Wet n Wild Color Icon Ice Baby Nail LE Collection

November 3, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9139 Comments2011-11-03+18%3A09%3A00StephanieLouise

So here is the quick collection and bottle pictures. I’ll be posting about them over the next 8-10 days. I found them WAYYY up on a top shelf in Walgreens. Nearly missed them! So, here’s the low down.

Here are the descriptions from Nouveau Cheap, who I think describe them in the bottle perfectly:

Rockin’ Rubies (red micro glitter and pink opalescent round glitter)

24 Carats (gold micro glitter, gold and copper thin bar glitter)

Give Me A Price Quote (yellow-green micro glitter and thin bar glitter)

Cost Is No Issue (teal micro glitter with round blue glitter)

It’s All In The Cut (lavender micro glitter with pink round glitter)

Back Alley Deals (purple micro glitter with magenta round glitter)

Believe Me, It’s Real (bold blue micro glitter with purple round glitter)

Diamond In The Rough (silver and black micro glitter with round holographic glitter)

These are VERY limited, so if you see them and want them don’t hesitate. I found them high, but that doesn’t mean that will be exactly where it is in all stores. The displays have 2 of each color…and I don’t even know if mine got refilled! I personally think these are definitely worth a buy even though they are $2.99 and other Wet n Wild nail polishes are usually less.

Today I’m wearing Back Alley Deals, swatches & lots of pictures to come later!

Mani of the Day: Fright Night Claw Polish in Phantom + Mini Haul

November 2, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9141 Comment2011-11-02+15%3A31%3A00StephanieLouise

So I picked up 4 polishes at Target yesterday. I had been desperately wanting these as Fright Night is a huge chunk of my childhood. My dad and I watched it EVERY year without fail. So when I couldn’t find these, I was pretty upset. Hunting around yesterday I found two duo packs! Both of them had Sinister (although one is completely different print?) which was fine with me, I’ll use one for marbling.

Voodoo reminds me very much of Ruby Stilettos, my hands down favorite sparkly red which is from Sally Hansen. I’ll have to see it swatched, but I am hoping it will be glorious.

My favorite is Phantom, a rainbow shimmer gray. This is only 2 coats and its beautiful. In the store, it looked gray with silver shimmer but when I put it on today it was a real stunner! Keep your eyes open for these if you like what you see! I know there is at least one more that’s a green/teal shade, but unfortunately it wasn’t there 🙁