FingerPaints Fall 2011

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I have swatches of FingerPaints' Fall Fashionista Collection for Fall 2011, which will be available at Sally Beauty Supply in August in stores and online.  For the swatches, all are two coats of color over a base coat and finished with Poshe, which I allowed to dry for about five minutes before I took a picture in sunlight.

Fall Fashionista is a collection of nine cremes, and they're all incredibly nice to apply.  The formula is very smooth and even to work with, and it's so well pigmented that only two of the nine shades actually needed the two coats of color I used.  The remaining seven were even an opaque at one thin coat, but I added a second because I prefer the look of two coats on my nails (I have ridges, they don't show with the second coat).  However, for nail art stamping, layering, pretty much anything other than wearing the polish alone, one coat would be just fine for me.

Catwalk Queen is a weird-in-a-good-way sort of Dijon mustard colored creme, and it's one of the two that really needed both coats to achieve the color in the bottle.  My middle nail is not shiny here because my nails fogged up from the heat and humidity, and that went unnoticed until I was selecting pictures.

FingerPaints Catwalk Queen Nail Polish, Two Coats

Military Green is a really cool one - it's the same color as U.S Army uniforms, that green with a touch of grey mixed into it.  It's good at one coat, but here's a picture of two.

FingerPaints Military Green Nail Polish, Two Coats

To-teally Chic (that's the press release spelling, the label says "To-telly Chic," but it looks like a sample label, so we'll know which it is when they're at Sally's) is a vivid teal creme.  I believe this is the nicest teal creme that $4.99 will buy you .  Again, one thin coat was even and opaque for me, but the picture is of two coats.

FingerPaints To-teally Chic Nail Polish, Two Coats

Purple Pinstripe is a very pretty muted purple creme, and like most of the others, the color was great in one coat.  The second gives a little more depth and a lot more shine, so here's two coats of Purple Pinstripe (and I see the bottom finger's nail fogged up).

FingerPaints Purple Pinstripe Nail Polish, Two Coats

Haute Taupe is a soft light brown creme, a good basic polish.

FingerPaints Haute Taupe Nail Polish, Two Coats

Raspberry Taffeta, a really gorgeous berry shade, is one of my favorites.  A couple of months ago I was looking for an article of clothing, and in that process noticed for the very first time that at least half of my clothing that's not black or white at least includes this shade.  It seems I'm a big fan!

FingerPaints Raspberry Taffeta Nail Polish, Two Coats

Vintage Velvet is another contender for the Favorite position, a muted blue green creme.  It's an unusual, modern, very pretty shade.

FingerPaints Vintage Velvet Nail Polish, Two Coats

Stunning Stilettos, a grey creme, is the other one that really needed a second coat (so I needed two for Catwalk Queen and Stunning Stilettos, all seven others could have gotten away with one coat of color).  It's a good grey creme.

FingerPaints Stunning Stilettos Nail Polish, Two Coats

Last but very definitely not least is the one I am wearing, Cordur-Orange (I know the name looks silly, say it out loud and it makes sense).  It's a Fall orange that brings to mind maple leaves changing and apple cider for me, but somehow FingerPaints avoided doing to Cordur-Orange whatever OPI did to Ginger Bells because Cordur-Orange is pretty.  It's the one I'm wearing today.

FingerPaints Cordur-Orange Nail Polish, Two Coats

That's all of them.  My sense of the collection as a whole is that it's perfect for Fall, and several of the colors are an interesting take on a more ordinary shade.  The quality of the polishes is exceptional, and the application is amazing.  I don't have a favorite picked out yet because there are four battling for it, and since I'll change my mind about it tomorrow anyhow I haven't really put the screws to myself to sort that one out.

That's what I know about FingerPaints Fall Fashionista Collection for 2011, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!




*FingerPaints Fall Fashionista was sent by Sally Beauty supply for independent honest review.

Konad Sky Pearl Special Polish & m63

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I did a manicure that came to mind the other day when I came across my Konad Sky Pearl Special Polish, and it turned out really well.  Not perfect, but I like it well enough that I don't especially care that it's imperfect.

I started out with Orly Frolic, the lovely two coat purple creme, which I thought would look really cool with Sky Pearl stamped over it.  For the pattern to stamp, I used the swirly one from Konad plate m63 that looks a lot like water marbling.  Since I liked how it was coming out off the bat, I used a coat of Konad top coat to prevent any smudges prior to finishing it off with Poshe.  Here's Orly Frolic with m63 in Konad Sky Pearl in the sun.

Konad Sky Pearl Special Polish over Orly Frolic with Konad Plate m63

You can see the the pearl finish in the Special Polish is very subtle - this is in sunlight, and the shimmer doesn't really show otherwise.  What I like about the Konad Pearl polishes (Black, White, Sky, Violet, ...) is that they don't seem to smudge anywhere near as easily as the cremes and they make exceptionally crisp stamps.

That's all for today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Konad Olive Green Princess Polish

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I like my Sally Hansen Creamy Olive manicure so much that I just added to it today, and I used plate XL A with Konad Olive Green Princess Polish to do it.  My stamping job wasn't perfect, nor was my cleanup (I erred on the side of removing too much), but I figured I'd give you a look at Konad Olive Green just the same because it's a great Fall shade and seems to lend itself to stamping over a lot of the Fall cremes.

Here, I stamped using the regular Konad stamper (I keep meaning to break out the XL one for another try, but never remember until I'm tidying up a spot that the regular stamper missed) and Konad Olive Green Special Polish, then sealed the stamping with Konad Top Coat and then a coat of Poshe to dry it.  Here's the finished manicure in the sun, and my pinky nail is the best one to really show stamping.

Konad Olive Green Princess Polish over Sally Hansen Creamy Olive Nail Polish

The places where stamps overlapped and the over-cleaned spots show up clearly here in a blown-up picture, but just walking around it looks fine.  Frankly, these are the ones that drive me nuts because the picture shows a pretty jacked up manicure while it looks cool when I look at my hands, which is why I suggest using the pinky, the only one with a completely clean stamp, to evaluate how the polish and stamp really look when properly executed.

I like the two colors together quite a bit, but I think the pattern is a little too small and busy for this particular combination.  I recently broke out quite a few Konad polishes that have been out of rotation for a while, so that might just bring about more Konad manicures in the coming weeks.

That's my olive green manicure and just about all I have to tell you about this morning, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Creamy Olive

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm still not ready to face another Fall color head-on, so today I chose one that kind of lets me ease into the idea.  Creamy Olive from the Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle line is, as the name indicates, a very washed out olive green creme.  The olive nods toward Fall, but the very pale shade lets me believe that the heat index really is 105° again.  Remember in February when I was complaining of being snowed in during dangerously cold conditions?  I just did and began to question why the heck I live in this area...

Back to Creamy Olive, which is an overall good polish except for the gargantuan oddly shaped brush (I think it's the same as that in the Insta Dri line).  After starting with base coat, the first coat of color was super sheer and blotchy then the second magically evened it all out for me.  I finished this one with Poshe because I somehow got some microglitter bits into the Diamont bottle I've been refilling, and Creamy Olive dried in good time and to a very glossy finish.

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Creamy Olive Nail Polish, Two Coats

One thing I particularly like about Creamy Olive is that despite how pale it is, there is no chalkiness to its overall look when dry, which is sometimes kind of a problem.  This is my second polish (I think, maybe third) from this relatively new line, and I absolutely love the polish and absolutely hate the brush, so replacing the brush looks like a good option here.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Chanel Enthusiast

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have another non-Zoya Smoke manicure, Chanel Enthusiast, which is a bright red creme.  My impression is that it is an LE from a few years ago.  It was the pick of the day because I have something later for which I wanted to just go with red, and I was really drawn to this one when I went to select a shade.  It just seems like a very summery red to me, very vivid and cheerful.

Enthusiast, like Chanel Dragon (another wonderful red) is even and opaque in one coat, but the second coat makes it really glossy.  That doesn't show well in today's picture - it's so hot and humid out that my nails kept getting fogged up when I'd try to take a picture.  It's not awful here (I just kept cleaning off the fog between pics!), but the amazing shine of Enthusiast will be lost in my pictures until it cools off a little.  Here is Chanel Enthusiast about 12 hours after application.

Chanel Enthusiast Nail Polish, Two Coats

So that's Enthusiast.  I Googled it to find the release date, but I got distracted before I arrived at that information by seeing it on Ebay for $70 and decided to address to matter of hunting for it instead.  It's a good red nail polish, but for me a $70 red is nonexistent, so if you like this one, my vote goes to calling Chanel to ask what current color is the closest match (their Beauty customer service is normally excellent).  The Chanel reds that I have are amazing, markedly nicer than any salon brands, and paying retail for them was bearable, but I'd feel kind of ripped off if I'd paid a nickel over retail for Enthusiast.  I'm on a mission to prevent a case of buyer's remorse here!

That's just about all there is today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Just Tinted in Desire

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I decided to try out a Revlon Just Tinted nail polish, Desire, for today because although Zoya Smoke is lovely, with a heat index of 105° it's difficult to get enthusiastic about a Fall color so I took a Return to Summer break.

Revlon's Just Tinted line is rather lightly pigmented jellies, and I'd eyed a couple a few times before finally getting them during a sale for the day when my nails would be short enough to wear them.  Lo and behold, that day has arrived.  The shade I chose for today, Desire, is a very bright pink, perfect for summer.  I needed three coats of Desire to make the color even, and it seems to be drying well with quick dry top coat.  This manicure screams of Summer.

Revlon Just Tinted Nail Polish in Desire, Three Coats

I like it because it's so summery, and it's a really nice one for the current length of my nails.  It makes me want to feast on seedless watermelon.

That's all there is to my Revlon Just Tinted Desire manicure, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Zoya Anja

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm still working my way through the Zoya Smoke Collection, today with Anja.  While I was at it I removed that fake tip I've been wearing, which meant losing more length than I care to, but it's nice to have even nails with no repairs again.  After taking care of that I put on Anja, which Zoya accurately describes as "smoky palatinate purple cream."  It's really nice to apply and one coat was almost good enough, so two made it perfect.  I finished it off with top coat, let it dry for a bit, then took a picture.  You'll see Anja darkens a bit as it dries.

Zoya Anja Nail Polish, Two Coats

It's another very nice, updated, very Fall appropriate shade.  That's the news of the day, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

FingerPaints Fall Fashionista

Swatches of FingerPaints Fall Fashionista Collection for Fall 2011

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I just got an email from Sally Beauty Supply with a promo image of their FingerPaints Fall 2011 limited edition release, Fall Fashionista, and some of the colors look really cool so I thought I'd give you a look.  If the font is too small for you, clicking on the picture will open a full-sized version in another tab.

FingerPaints Fall Fashionista Collection for Fall 2011

I just wanted to pass that on, so until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Zoya Dree

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Continuing with the Zoya Smoke Collection for Spring 2011, today I have Dree for you.  Before I move on to Dree, I had one quick note about the removal of Zoya Cynthia to pass on to you.  You know how dark blues often leave Smurf fingers in their wake?  Well, I removed Cynthia with the pink Beauty Secrets acetone-based remover, and there was literally zero staining of my skin or nails, so that's a huge plus for a dark blue.

Back to Zoya Dree... That's the olive green creme in the Smoke Collection, and my initial reaction was not particularly thrilled just because I have olive green cremes.  Once I started applying it, I became far more enthusiastic about it for several reasons.  First, the shade is a good one - it's not as yellow as RBL No More War nor as washed out as Chanel Khaki Vert.  The application is very good, although a little bit slow for me since the brush is small and my nails are not, but that comes down to making the color change take 14 minutes instead of 8-10, which is completely reasonable.  Dree's dry time is exceptionally good - when I was painting the seventh nail, I bumped the freshly painted third nail and only made a tiny fixable mark in it, and it was completely dry very fast using everyday base and top coats for me.  The polish is very pigmented so two thin coats were all that I needed and it dries very shiny.  Here's Zoya Dree with base and top coat in the sun.

Zoya Dree Nail Polish, Two Coats

That's what I know about Zoya Dree.  So far so good on the Smoke Collection, and I'm looking forward to the other four.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



*This polish was provided by the manufacturer for review, that fact has no bearing on the review itself.

Zoya Cynthia

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm wearing Zoya Cynthia today  because I swatched Zoya's Smoke Collection for you at the same time that I swatched Zoya Mirrors, but  in the time it took me to swatch twelve polishes the light changed and I wasn't pleased with the swatches so I figured I'll just show you the Smoke colors one at a time this week.  Why not start with Cynthia...

Zoya's description of Cynthia is that it's a "smoky Prussian blue cream," and that sounds just about right.  Cynthia 's application was very good, and two coats were plenty to make it perfectly even and opaque.  Here it is after the manicure dried (two coats of color with base and top coats).

Zoya Cynthia Nail Polish, Two Coats

I like Cynthia - it's like an updated navy blue and it's nice and shiny.

That's the beginning of Zoya Smoke and just about all I have for you today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!



*This polish was provided by the manufacturer for review, that fact has no bearing on the review itself.

Zoya Mirrors Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After I thought I was all done yesterday, a set of Zoya's Mirror Collection sent for review arrived, and I have swatches of them for you today.  This is a really cool collection - each of them applied really beautifully, the one I'm wearing dried well in reasonable time, and they're fun to look at.

All of these are base coat, two coats of color, and top coat, and I let each dry for a few minutes before taking a picture in sunlight.  There's no real significance to the order of the swatches.  Now that you know all of that, let's look at pretties.

Tao, which Zoya describes as "smoky slate gray metallic", is what I'd call a light gunmetal shimmer, and a good one.

Zoya Tao Nail Polish, Two Coats

I'd agree with Zoya that Marina is "smoky steel blue," but I say it's a shimmer and not so much metallic.

Zoya Marina Nail Polish, Two Coats

Nimue is called "smoky rich thistle metallic", and and strange as it sounds, I think "smoky thistle" is the best description of Nimue, a shimmer.  A technical difficulty resulted in less nails swatched for this one.

Zoya Nimue Nail Polish, Two Coats

Zoya says Neeka is "sparkly amethyst purple  metallic," it's a bit deeper purple than Nimue and has little gold glitter.  Neeka is right along the lines of Sally Hansen Salon Arabian Night from a collection Tracy Reese did with them a few years ago.

Zoya Neeka Nail Polish, Two Coats

The other with glitter just like that in Neeka is Yara, where it's in an olive green shimmer base.

Zoya Yara Nail Polish, Two Coats

These five are all lovely, but I think almost any polish would pale in comparison to Zoya Jem.  It's described as "sparkly fandango pink metallic," but mine's nothing like fandango pink at all.  It's a fantastic red plum shimmer, and there's something about the shimmer in it that makes it look just like cool custom car paint.  It makes me think of a neighbor I had when I was a teenager who was terribly proud of his IROC-Z.  The custom paint job even included his name on the driver's door - too bad it was spelled wrong... Anyhow, this is Zoya Jem - see if it transports you back to the days of watching a whole bunch of guys trying to construct an entire car out of Bondo.

Zoya Gem Nail Polish, Two Coats

I think the whole Mirrors Collection is excellent (Zoya's really been making great colors), but Jem put it over the top.  Jem is one amazing nail polish.

That's what I know about Zoya Mirrors, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Sephora by OPI Rock His World

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I changed my polish to Sephora by OPI Rock His World, a deep red vampy creme.  I'd planned to add on to Orly Frolic, but I used my nails to pry something yesterday and chipped the polish on a couple of them when I did it.  I don't think it was the polish - the only two nails with any chips or wear were the two I pretty much pried chips off of, so please don't let that put you off to Frolic.

I chose Rock His World because I have something early in the day tomorrow for which I want my nails to look nice, and while I have no reason to downplay them I also didn't want to go over the top, so a standard shade seemed like a good choice.  In the bottle, Rock His World looks like a kind of dark brick red, but once dry on the nail it's darker and less brown than in the bottle.  It applied really, really well (as the picture shows - there was no cleanup after application), but it did require three coats to completely even it out.  That's not unexpected - I associate shades like this with being kind of blotchy unless care is taken to keep them even.  This is Rock His World in sunlight after drying with a coat of Nubar Diamont.

Sephora by OPI Rock His World Nail Polish, Three Coats

Although nothing unique or unusual, I like this color quite a bit.  I was fine with the bottle color, but I'm far more enthusiastic about Rock His World after it's had a chance to dry on the nail.  Given how it applied, whenever I get around to weeding out duplicate colors, I'll be keeping Rock His World.  It's just a really good version of a solid basic color, and you can't go wrong with that.

That's Sephora by OPI Rock His World and just about all there is to tell you about today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Orly Frolic

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's manicure is another from Orly's Happy Go Lucky Collection, Frolic, which is a gorgeous purple creme. It's very easy to apply, is so pigmented one coat is just shy of sufficient, and it's really shiny when dry.  This is Frolic with a base and top coat in cloudy sunlight.

Orly Frolic Nail Polish, Two Coats

I don't know what it is about the particular shade of Frolic, but I love it and keep staring at my nails.  This one  really should stay for another day to be enjoyed, and since it cries out to me for some black Konad, I'm going to add to it if I get a chance to today.  It's too good a creme to just wear plain and remove!

That's what I know about Orly Frolic, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Orly Flirty

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I have Orly Flirty to show you from Orly's Happy Go Lucky Collection for Summer 2011.  It's the pink shimmer in the release, and it's perfect.  It's an almost neon pink that's extremely well pigmented with two coats going on easily and providing opaque coverage, it dries very quickly (when I started the second coat, the first was dry with no waiting around time in between), and the color and finish are fabulous together.  I only had cloudy weather for a picture, but Flirty was up to the task.  Please excuse the felt lint on my thumb which the proof read has revealed to me...

Orly Flirty Nail Polish, Two Coats

One sort of strange thing is that once the polish is totally cured, the surface of my nails feels kind of like they're coated in ceramic.  Flirty is not the first polish that dried to feel this way and it's not a problem in any way, it just feels funny in a not-bad way (not especially good either, more like interesting).

I think I'm so smitten with Flirty because it has a strong shimmer and this shade of pink makes me happy, so not everyone should expect to be as enamored with it as I am.  I'm aware that some find pink nail polish to be a bit boring and safe, but it's really high on my list of favorites just the same.  I guess some things are traditional because they work well...

That's Orly Flirty and the news of the day, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After spending many days of being able to see through my tips with Revlon Fizzes, I wanted to change to a good opaque polish.  I chose an oldy, Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams.

Laura Mercier hasn't put out nail polish for at least a couple of years now, I think, but I loved them when they did.  I'd liken them to Dior with respect to overall quality - they're extremely well pigmented with one coat being almost sufficient, are so easy to control they pretty much apply themselves, and some of the colors are spectacular.  Caviar Dreams is in the Spectacular category.  I recall when Chanel Black Pearl came out that at least one person asked me if it was a dupe for Caviar Dreams, and at the time the likelihood of me locating this one to compare was virtually nil, but I was sure that Caviar Dreams was far more duochrome and I managed to get some pictures that at least hint at its spectacularity (I know that's not a real word, but it's a fun word).

This is Caviar Dreams in direct bright sunlight.  You can see that it's a charcoal shimmer and there's something going on with a bit of teal in the shimmer, but the duochrome effect is largely washed out in the brightest lighting.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams Nail Polish, Two Coats in Direct Sunlight

I wandered around taking pictures in different light to see how many of its colors I could catch, and partially lit with bright sunlight, the kind of purple-pink side of Caviar Dreams shows up.  Indoors, that pinkish cast shows over the whole nail well, but in light bright enough for a color accurate picture it's just in a few spots.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams Nail Polish, Two Coats in Partial Sunlight

Completely in the shade, I was able to get a good look at the teal in Caviar Dreams, which is also apparent in indoor lighting.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams Nail Polish, Two Coats in the Shade

Pretty cool, huh?  This is a good one, so I'm glad I stumbled upon it while looking for something completely different.  Really good duochromes are so few and far between that I always really enjoy one when I wear it - it's fun to make my nails change colors in the sunlight while sitting at traffic lights.

That's the scoop for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Grape Fizz

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I chose another Revlon Fizz to try out today, Grape Fizz, but before I move on to that I'll mention a couple of things about Watermelon Fizz and its removal.  By mid-morning my sense of smell was back to non-smoking normal, and I found that the fragrance of Watermelon Fizz was light and not too sweet, not overpowering at all.  Since it was more flaky sparkly bits than glitter (like the non-glitter OPI Burlesque shades), removal was really easy.  I used non-acetone remover, a good strong one, and one little square of felt and very little effort was all that was required to take off three coats, so if fear of removal is putting you off from these, that's not an issue.

So on to Grape Fizz!  It's higher maintenance than the last one for me, and I needed four coats.  When applying the fourth, my thought was that it was just needed to make the polish completely even for a macro picture, and somehow that fleeting thought put me into swatching mode and I only did my left hand, so the right only has three coats.  Three coats is so blotchy it's uneven and falls short of bottle color (it's kind of faded and washed out on my right hand), so this one really will need four coats for me.  With drying often being an issue for me with Revlons, I waited a couple of minutes between coats then finished it off with quick dry top coat, and it seems to be drying just fine.

Revlon Grape Fizz Nail Polish, Four Coats

It's quite pretty, but I'm deciding if its four-coat pretty and leaning toward No.  As for the fragrance of this one, it's much stronger than the watermelon.  When I was applying the first coat I noticed it (strongly), and it's the pleasant scent of 100% grape juice, but almost totally dry on my nails I can still smell it very strongly while sitting here typing.  If it remains this heavily fragranced, that'll be a dealbreaker for me - I sleep with my hands right by my face, and I can tell you now that even half this much grape juice smell would really get on my nerves trying to drift off to sleep.

That's Grape Fizz - a beautiful but demanding sparkly purple that may well have too much scent for me.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Watermelon Fizz

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I put on Watermelon Fizz, one of Revlon's new-ish scented glitter polishes.  I've seen this one, been tempted, and managed to walk away many times, but the last time I saw it was on sale while I'd been carrying a Revlon coupon for just such an occasion, so it became mine.

My reluctance was that I thought the glitters were probably somewhat repetitive of others I have, but I found Watermelon Fizz is not.  It's a jelly with medium sized smooth glitter, and I don't have a heck of a lot of jellies.  The finish works really well with the pink-orange-red watermelon color, so for this one I was willing to suck it up and see through my tips a bit.  It took three coats to reach completely even bottle color, and then I topped it off with quick dry top coat.  It wasn't totally dry when I took the picture, but it seems to be moving in that direction pretty well with no Revlon oddities like a Braille finish (as with Revlon Blue Lagoon), so I thought I'm probably safe to go ahead and post it. I mention that on the off chance that something goes south, but in that case I'll make a follow up post.  This is Watermelon Fizz in the morning sunlight.

Revlon Watermelon Fizz Nail Polish, Three Coats

As for the fragrance, it seems like a pleasant enough, not-too-sweet watermelon scent, but I'm not the best judge today... I'm still not smoking (three months tomorrow!) and using an e-cig, and my e-cig gets refilled with nicotine "juice."  Well, the juice is available unflavored or tobacco flavored, but then it also comes in flavors like Cinnabon and Honeysuckle and everything in between that you could imagine.  I replenished my supplies during 4th of July sales and received some of them yesterday, but now I find my sense of taste and smell are a little diminished by the overload of trying a couple out.  I can still lightly smell the watermelon scent in the Revlon, but even if it were nauseatingly overpowering I'd quite likely lightly smell the watermelon scent in the Revlon.  I'll have to wait for my olfactory sense to recharge to have a strong opinion about this one.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

L'Oreal Blue Marine

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I changed my polish to L'Oreal Blue Marine, the sparkly blue from the L'Oreal Summer Siren Collection, after wearing my Fourth of July manicure for three days.  I'll tell you, the red OPI did not hold up spectacularly well - I had quite a few chips, which is what prompted me to change it.  Anyhow, the need to change it gave me the opportunity to try out Blue Marine, so that's alright...

Blue Marine is really a three-coater for me, after two I could still see through my tips a bit.  The coats were very thin, but the pigment in this polish (the kind that seems like tiny flakes) doesn't seem to appreciate thick coats, so three it is.  I topped it off with some quick dry top coat and went to take pictures in the sun.

L'Oreal Blue Marine Nail Polish, Three Coats

Although I like this one quite a bit, there is some disappointment.  When I showed you a bottle picture of Blue Marine, I'd mentioned that there was a purple duochrome effect in the bottle that wasn't showing up in the picture.  Well, it ain't showing up on my nails, either, not in any light at all.  I applied it in a bright room with morning sun shining in through sheer curtains and could see it on the brush, but not on my nails at all, it clearly doesn't show in the sun, didn't in the shade, and doesn't here in a room with low natural light.  Now, in the post with the bottle picture, I recall at least one comment assuring me the duochrome shows up when the polish is applied, so I think this one might be a little trickier than most to get the purple to show up.  All I can think of that would make it show up for others and not me would be the curve and shape of a person's nail bed.  Mine have an unusually strong C curve (the curve left to right over the nail bed), which usually makes duochromes show up really well, but it's not helping me any here.  Regardless of the cause, my own experience is disappointment that zero purple show for me, but I know that others have had a better outcome.

That's just about all there is to tell you about today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!