Wet N Wild Diving for Pearls + Revlon Sweet Nothings + Sally Hansen Snappy Sprinkles

Diving for Pearls is from Wet N Wild’s Summer 2011 Mermaid’s Cove collection.  It’s a pretty teal foil with very fine golden shimmer.  It applied beautifully in 2 coats – well worth the $1.99 price tag!

Then I added a coat of Revlon Sweet Nothing Lilac Lingerie, which adds a lovely iridescent luster.

Oooh.

Just for fun here’s how it looks with Sally Hansen Insta-dri Snappy Sprinkles, a limited edition green and pink holographic bar glitter.  This is such a spring-y polish!

~ Allison ~

ORLY Velvet Rope + A Green Franken

I discovered that Bed, Bath and Beyond has a big cosmetics section!  Wooo!  I restrained myself and only bought one polish, Orly Velvet Rope. It’s a medium purple shimmer with flecks of silver glitter, giving it a nice sparkle without the all-out glamour of a full glitter polish. To me it looks very regal.

Application was smooth and mess-free.  This is two coats.

And, here is a franken I made that turned out better than I expected.  It’s a combination of Sinful Colors San Francisco (which I reviewed last post), American Apparel Hunter (reviewed here), and Fantasy Makers glitter confetti, a fine holographic glitter.  I named her Emerald Slippers, because the color reminded me of Oz, and this is the color Dorothy’s slippers would be if they were green!  This is two coats.  The glitter made for a slightly gritty surface but one coat of Seche Vite fixed that.

~ Allison ~

Sinful Colors San Francisco + Kleancolors Afternoon Picnic

San Francisco by Sinful Colors is a dark emerald green glass fleck.  (The smile line is not visible in real life like it is in the picture.)  This is two coats.

Then I brushed on some glitter!  I used Kleancolors Afternoon Picnic, a joyful hullabaloo of multicolored, different sized hex glitter.  I used one coat on all my fingers except for the middle, which has two, to illustrate how the glitter accumulates with each layer.  The only thing I didn’t like about Afternoon Picnic is that the edges of the larger hexes tended to turn up, resulting in a fragmented nail surface.  Kleancolors also smell kind of funky, but I’m used to it.  You will definitely want to use a quick-dry topcoat with this level of mega glitter going on.

What a fun mani!  San Francisco reminds me of grass so an addition of an Afternoon Picnic only seemed logical 🙂

~ Allison ~

Two Sinful Colors Greens

Here is a comparison of two greens by Sinful Colors.  I got these at my neighborhood Rite Aid for about $1.99 a bottle.

Show Me the Way

What a stunning color!  Sinful Colors Show Me the Way is a golden green with a glass fleck finish.  It is so alive and glowy!  I used 3 coats here.  Although the nail line is pretty visible in these photos, it wasn’t in real life.

HD Nails

HD Nails is a cooler-toned green pearl. Application was buttery smooth.  This is three coats.

This one really comes alive in bright sunlight.  I added black tips, too, with Wet N Wild Creme Black.

~ Allison ~

Holo-Fest! Part I

We have been hit with so much rain in New York for the past couple of weeks.  So, when the sun emerged yesterday with a forecast of rays all day, I snatched up my camera and polishes and did some swatching for you.  Viola – here are the holographic nail polishes I have in my collection.

I’ll kick off this post with the Milani 3D Holographic Collection.  It has been available for awhile, but for some reason I couldn’t find these locally til a couple of months ago.  Anyway, I’m so glad I scooped up all 6 because they are gorgeous!  Unlike some holos, these went on like a dream, with no dragging or splotchiness.  I didn’t use any special basecoat – just my usual Essie Millionails.  These dry very shiny, as well – you don’t need a topcoat to get that glossy look.  On to the swatches!

HD is a bright, clear silver.

3D is a warm golden holo.

Hi-Tech is a crazy gorgeous yellow-green.  I love how there are both color particles in this one in addition to the holographic.  Since it’s such a chameleon I had a hard time capturing the color with my camera.

Cyberspace is a blue holo that looks baby blue or blue gray, depending on the light. This one is extra spectacular in the sun!

Digital is a cool-toned medium pink.

Hi-Res is a lilac purple with tons of holo goodness.  It’s such a stunner that I thought it deserved an extra photo.

What a rainbow!

All of these are two coats except for HD (the silver), which was not as opaque as the others, for some reason.  I’m really glad Milani dipped their toes into the holographic nail polish stream (ooh, that sounds refreshing, can I go?).  These manage to be chock-full of chunky holo particles while giving off a linear shine and drying smooth and glossy on the nail.  They also look fantastic both in low/indoor light and bright sunlight.  My absolute faves are Hi-Res (purple), Cyberspace (blue), and Hi-Tech (green).  Get your paws on these polishes for $5.99 apiece at CVS.

How do you think these compare to some of the other holographic nail polishes – OPI DS, Color Club, etc?

Watch for Part II of Holo-Fest, coming soon!

~ Allison ~