Wicked Style

Polish - China Glaze Wicked Style

The color of Wicked Style is so hard to describe. I want to call it pink, my husband insists that it's purely red.  It reminds me of my favorite shade circa 1993 that was called Fruit Punch (I, sadly, can't remember the brand) and I wore it almost every day for 3 years, when I had big long acrylics in high school.  So, we'll go with "fruit punch" to describe this color too.

The formula is not as good as Kinetic Candy, which is from the same collection, but I honestly don't have many other polishes that are.  Wicked Style needed 3 thin coats for full coverage.  With 2, I still had a visible nail line, which I hate.  I used a coat of Out the Door on this, as I didn't have any mistakes that needed to be corrected, so that's a good sign too.

Wicked Style's color is very hard to get a good photo of.  As you can see in the last photo down the line, it simply freaked out my camera from time to time.

This is the photo I took that's easiest on the eyes, and actually the shade of the bottle is pretty much spot-on.  On the nails, not so much (it looks a little too red by my eyes).  But the bottle color is accurate here.




This is another fairly accurate bottle shot.






And this is the most accurate nail color I could get a photo of.




This is the photo that really shows how hard this polish is to photograph.



If you made it past that last photo without losing your vision, go out and get this shade.  It's worth it.  It's a nice pop of color that you'll enjoy looking at all day long.

Kinetic Candy

Polish:  China Glaze Kinetic Candy

I saw this polish in the clearance bucket at Sally's and I almost didn't pick it up.  I was afraid it was too close in color to For Audrey and Tiffany Imposter.  So I whipped out my phone and searched for some swatches and I saw nothing but excellent reviews for the formula and the color.  Of course, for $2.50 I went ahead and picked it up and brought it home.  And it didn't disappoint.  I was still thinking it was pretty close to FA and TI, but I was wrong.  It's lighter and more blue/less green than either of them.

Kinetic Candy is a real 2 coater and has an excellent shine.

shade



bright sun






I decided to go ahead and do some swatch comparisons, to see where Kinetic Candy fits in.  From left to right is CG Kinetic Candy, SH Blue Away, FP Tiffany Imposter, and CG For Audrey.

To show how truly awesome the formula is, I did 1 coat for this first photo.  As you can see, Kinetic Candy isn't perfect, but if you were in a hurry, you could totally get away with just 1 coat.  The other three look awful and streaky.




The final photos are 3 coats of each.

shade



bright sun



So all in all, I give this polish an A+.

If you liked For Audrey, but needed something a little less green for your skin tone, pick up Kinetic Candy (and be sure to check your local Sally's clearance bin!)

I think it's a great summer shade and will look good all year long.

You're Blushing

Polish:  Orly You're Blushing

Fuzzy photos courtesy of my iPhone.

You're Blushing by Orly is a nice gray-purple cream polish.  It went on smooth, and even though I applied 3 coats for the following photos, I could have gotten by with just 2.  It didn't pool, flood, or leave bald spots.  I have a feeling I'll be wearing this polish quite a bit in the fall.  It's a nice, funky, muted neutral.

The skies are very overcast today, but I feel like the color is pretty true in these photos.












Do you own this shade?  If so, let me know what you think of it.

Mango

Polish - Savvy Femme Couture Mango

I'll have to start with a lot of apologizing.  First, sorry it's been so long.  Second, these are crappy iPhone pics.  The color is fairly accurate, at least.

This is Savvy polish in Mango.  I am not sure, but I believe Sally Beauty Supply might be in the process of removing this brand of polish from their collection.  I got this bottle of clearance (what's new, right?) and I didn't see any in a normal display.

Overall, the application of this polish was very nice.  It went on smooth - didn't drag, flood, or leave bald spots.  I also think the color is pretty unique.  In the bottle, it seemed more pink to me, and I wondered why they'd named the shade "Mango" - but on the nail, it's a nice shade of coral/orange and I think it would work on a lot of different skintones. 

The following photos are 3 coats.







If you have this polish, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

Shades of the Season

About a month ago, Keith and I were in CVS and I was looking through the nail polish area, as usual.  I was rubber-necking the Sally Hansen Crackle display, and almost ran over this...



It's a tube-a-plenty of polish!  Then I saw the sign, which alerted me to the fact that this whole tube was only $9.99.  Then I counted the polish and realized that was less than a dollar per bottle.  How could I pass up such a deal, even if it turned out to be a totally crappy product?  It would at least be fun to play with!  So, I bought it.  Keith rolled his eyes.  When we got home, I immedately took off my current polish and decided to try every single color at once.  I think sometimes it's ok to revert back to Jr. High.



There really are some lovely shades in the collection.  The light blue and the yellow caught my eye the most, though I rarely have high hopes for yellow polish.  I was still excited to try it.



The yellow surprised me a bit.  It wasn't horrible to work with.  It wasn't perfect, and there was a tiny bit of cuticle drag, but overall, I was impressed with every color that went on my right hand.



Even that ballet slipper pink on my thumb gave excellent coverage.  Not a streak to be found!  And even in the extreme closeup, you can barely see my nail line.



The light blue ended up being a real stunner.  It's a perfect shade of baby or sky blue, in my opinion.  And again, I didn't have any real issues with any of the colors that went on my left hand.



I'd say in the long run, my favorite ended up being that lovely bright coral red on my thumb.  It went on so smooth, and I probably could have actually gotten away with 1 coat.

Overall, I am very impressed with the Shades of the Season colors.  If you're in CVS and see this tube-o-polish, pick it up.  It's worth it for these staple colors.

Purple Rain

Polish - Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Purple Rain

Cue the Prince music!  This color really should have been named Raspberry Beret.  It's a super dark raspberry purple cream.  It goes on smooth, self-levels, and really did wear pretty well.  I didn't do a 10 day or even a 5 day test on it, but I think I ended up wearing this color for a good 3 days, which is a long time for me, and it help up very well.



I applied Hard as Nails basecoat, 3 medium coats of polish, and a coat of Seche Vite.  With three coats, it has great coverage, but comes out very very dark.  If you have a steadier hand than I do, and want it a bit lighter, you could probably get by with just 2 coats. 





This is a pretty shade, a little vampy and dark, but pretty.  I'll be keeping it around for sure.

Dove

Polish - Zoya Dove

I've been wanting a nice true dove gray for a long time now. When Zoya had their promotion where you could get Dove and Caitlin with any online purchase, for their "French Twist" manicure, I snagged them both. I finally tried Dove this weekend. And, while it is a nice neutral gray, it falls a little flat for me. I think I'll be looking for China Glaze Pelican Gray. PG has a beautiful shimmer that makes it just a little more special that Dove, in my eyes at least.

Dove's application was pretty nice. It went on streaky with the first coat, which I find most Zoya polishes do, but after 2 more coats it's just about perfect. It's very self-leveling and that really helps this girl with the horribly uneven nail beds. Slap a coat of Seche Vite on top, and it's hard to see the imperfections.







If you enjoy Zoya polish and need a subtle gray cream, snatch this one up. It's a pretty shade, but I think I'll still be searching for my perfect gray.

Tropical Breeze

Polish - L.A. Colors Color Craze Nail Polish in Tropical Breeze

L.A. Colors polish is really pretty great stuff.  I buy it at my local Dollar Tree store for a dollar.  How amazing is that?  It's at least 3 free, if not 4 free (free of the bad stuff, that is) and is beyond cheap.  And it's usually a pretty good formula to boot!

Tropical Breeze is a true grape purple shade.  It's a cream, and goes on a little watery at first, but after three coats, it provides total coverage.  As you will see, I have just minimal cuticle drag on a few nails, but if I had not been in a hurry while applying it, I don't think that would have been an issue at all. And as it is, it's not bad enough to show much with the naked eye.

This polish is somewhat shiny without a shiny topcoat, but I still prefer extra shine, so put a coat of Seche Vite over it and it's nearly perfect.







This is the prettiest, truest grape I've seen, in a long time.  Go ahead and make that trip down to Dollar Tree and pick it up.  It's totally worth the price of gas!

Sailor

Polish - Nina Ultra Pro in Sailor
I've got a smile on my face, because I've got no more nubs!  And, my nails are a beautiful place today, because of this polish!

Sailor might be the best cream polish I have ever worked with.  It went on smooth, leveled itself out so nicely, and was beyond shiny even before a top coat.  I'm just almost speechless.  I have notoriously bad luck with cream polish, but not last night!

The pigmentation was excellent.  It took 2 coats for complete coverage on this one.  That's unheard of, for me.  I didn't even get any cuticle drag.  It's a miracle.  I have "Leaf Me Alone" from this same collection and now I can't wait to try it.  I've been dreading it, but not anymore.

The photos I took are not of a fresh manicure.  Almost immediately after this polish dried, I had to take care of some yard work, and after that was done, it was already dark.  So, these photos are of a manicure that did yard work, slept, and then did a half a day's worth of typing.  There's minimal tip-wear and some scratches, but it's still just such a lovely color that I don't think anyone will even notice.







The color is a few shades lighter than Sally Hansen's Navy Baby.  It's a true Navy, not even close to black.  It's awesome.  Go buy it, if you can still find it.

Antiqued Gold

I've been waiting for a month to get one of the new Sally Hansen crackle polishes.  I have very good luck with almost all things Sally, so I figured I'd wait for hers to come out, to be my first crackle experience.

I went to CVS on payday, and looked at the display.  I decided on Antiqued Gold.  I knew I didn't want black or white, and this one seemed the most neutral out of the bunch.  But it's still special.  It's very sparkly too, so that was a big plus.



As soon as I got home, I had to try it out, so I just brushed it over the color I was already wearing, which was Zoya Adina.  Adina is a very pretty duochrome that goes from purple to silver to green.  I love it.







So I brushed a very thin coat (per the instruction on the bottle) of Antiqued Gold over my thumbnail.  It kind of just sat there.  It didn't really crack.  I was broken-hearted for a moment.  I went ahead and tried it on the rest of my right hand and it got a little better.  I noticed that the best cracks came from the thickest coats of polish.  Which, is basically exactly the opposite of what the bottle says.  Curious.

These aren't the best photos, because the sky was very overcast, but you can see the cracks.  They are decent, but the Adina is still barely visible through them.







After a day of wearing this combination, I decided to try the Antiqued Gold over a lighter or brighter shade.  I got in my drawer and looked through some of my favorite polishes, and settled on Fingerpaints' Tiffany Imposter. 

In case you're not familiar, here it is from the first time I tried that color.  Please excuse the accent nail.



It's a very light, bright, Tiffany blue.  I'm in love with this shade and right now, if I was only allowed 1 color of polish, this would be it.



And guess what?  It looks FABULOUS under Antiqued Gold.  I applied 2 coats of Tiffany Imposter and 1 fairly thick coat of Antiqued Gold.  And I've already had two compliments on the combination today.  I didn't get even one compliment with Adina.







I'm so much more impressed with the cracks than I was the first time around.  I really think you need to refrain from using a light hand when applying the Sally Hansen Crackles.  Go ahead and slap a thick coat on there.  I don't think you'll regret it.