Take this as a token of my love for all my readers! Despite the terrible vision and corneal cross linking surgery I had on Monday, I can't sit idle any more and am trying to upload this post. I was taking pictures and hoping the entire time that they wouldn't be too blurry! I think everything turned out okay, all things considered. My eyes are tired of squinting though so I'm going to sleep promptly afterwards. Play the song and read on!!
The Essence nail polishes are from my
GREY-T TO BE HERE
Grey-t To Be Here is a sheer but buildable grey polish with pretty purple shimmer dispersed throughout. At first glance, Cult Nails Disciplined comes to mine, but I think on the nail, the two are different - Disciplined is more sheer.than Grey-t. Itt dries to a gorgeous hi-gloss finish, almost like jelly finish. In fact, it's squishy enough that I could probably layer some glitter in between for a jelly sandwich. Future experiments will reveal all truths.
For the swatches above, I used: 1 Coat Nail Tek Foundation II, 2 coats Grey-t To Be Here, and 1 coat Revlon Quickdry Topcoat.
CAFE OLE
Cafe Ole is a "nude Glam" nail polish. It's pretty but not quite my cup of tea. Or coffee. Harharhar, get it? Cafe Ole was just a little streaky and difficult to work with, but mayb if I was more patient betwen coats (And could see properly), swatching it wouldn't have been such a nightmare. I'm not a fan of this shade on me but it's not a bad nude. I only wish that 1 coat wasn't streaky because it would have made a great french manicure base otherwise.
Cafe Ole is like a cross between OPI Samoan Sands and OPI Tickle My France-y in my opinion. I've got both, but SS is more sheer than Cafe Ole, and TMF is less sheer. If this had a touch more peach and didn't give my hands such a ghastly cast, I'd like it more.
Nail polishes used for the above swatches: Nail Tek II Basecoat, Cafe Ole (3 coats), Revlon Quickdry Topcoat
OH MY GLITTER!
Oh My Glitter! is prettyyyy! Unexpectedly sheer though, but built up with no problems. My camera hates purples and blues SO this color in reality is a LOT more true purple, not as blue-leaning as the pictures make you believe. Perhaps when I can see a tad better and do more fine-tuned Photoshop work, I'll make color-crrecting adjustments to the photos but for now, just take my word that it's more purple!
I used 2 coats and everything dried to a high-glossed finish. It's got a really pretty shimmer in it that's reminescent of Cult Nails, Doppelganger (The shimmery topcoat that allows you to recreate the signature Cult Nails sparkle in whatever nail polish you want). The shimmer doesn't translate that well onto your nail and I was hoping it would have been stronger. It's a very dainty purple polish and will make a great base for different glitters!
Polishes used for the above swatches: Nail Tek II Basecoat, Essence Oh My Glitter!, 2 coats, and Revlon Quickdry Topcoat
GORGEOUS BLING BLING
Gorgeous Bling Bling is a terracotta colored nail polish with chunky gold glitter/shimmer in it. I think it's shimmer but there are some bigger pieces too. Unfortunately when I took pictures, the chunky gold glitter just photographed a bit weird...rather than add "bling", I thik the overall effect is rough and choppy and blah. I hoped to like it more than I did. I'm also not explaining myself very well. Even though in reality, this manicure was glossy and smooth, it didn't photograph as such.
WHAT I DID TO FIX THIS - I just topped it all with glitter. I've been waiting for a chance to use my GlitterDaze, Love & Affection nail polish purchased during a clearance sale. I think I paid like $5 plus shipping for it? Something like that. For that price, I've got no complaints.
GlitterDaze, Love & Affection
Love & Affection is named after a Rihanna & Future song and for that reason alone, I love it! I love that song because Future is like my trashy guilty pleasure and I can play that song on repeat and wail along with him for hours. Legit. HOURS.
Love & Affection is a GLITTERBOMB. It features a dark chocolate base packed with light pink, fuchsia, and silvery-white hex glitters in varying sizes. There is also some microglitter to finish it off. I used 1 coat dabbed on over Essence Gorgeous Bling Bling and was more than satisfied with the result, although the base is colored enough that next time, I will probably ust wear 2-3 layers on its own.
I had some issues with the formula at first, but despite my hesitations, was able to get a great application. The bottle is packed with glitter and in my opinion, the glitter-to-base ratio could do with some adjusting. When I put it on my nails, so so so many glitters come out that you can't make out what it's made of or appreciate its nuances anymore. It's like pretty sparkly glitter vomit on your nails. The fact that the base is so dark and opaque on its own also made it hard for the glitter to shine through, it just gets lost in the murky brown depths.
I still like what it looks like, don't get me wrong, but I just think it had the potential to be more sophisticated than it is. My favorite part of the polish is the punch bold fuchsia glitters but sadly, a lot of them are buried underneath everything else and oly 1-2 really sparkle and shine the way they could.
WELL THEN, I'M DONE RANTING. Go replay that song, you know you want to ;)
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